SEALS IN THE ‘CASPIAN CHAP. 
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Fam. 3. Phocidae.—The true Seals have no external ears, 
and the nostrils are quite dorsal in position as in other aquatic 
animals, such as the Crocodile. There is obviously an approach 
to the conditions characteristic of the Whales. The hind-limbs 
are useless for locomotion on land. They are bound up with the 
tail, and form functionally merely a part of the tail. In this 
family there are, at any rate, eight genera. 
Phoca and Halichoerus are not very wide apart from each 
other. In both there are five well-developed claws on feet and 
hands. They are British, and generally Arctic and temperate 
in range. For some reason or other the late Dr. Gray placed 
Halichoerus in the same sub-family with the Walrus! Phoca is 
Fic. 230.—Common Seal. Phoca vitulina. x4. (From Parker and Haswell’s Zoology.) 
not only marine, but is found in the Caspian and in Lake 
Baikal. Their existence in those inland seas is believed to be a 
vestige of a former connexion with the sea. Halichoerus grypus 
is a large seal 8 feet in length when full grown. — Its colour is 
yellowish grey, with darker grey spots and blotches. It is not 
uncommon on the shores of our islands, particularly of the Hebrides 
and Argyllshire. The commonest Seal is Phoca vitulina, not more 
than 4 to 5 feet long, and of the same spotted coloration as the 
last. This Seal has, however, a much wider distribution, being 
Arctic as well as British, American, and North Pacific. A curious ° 
fact about this Seal is that it is not impatient of fresh water ; 
not only will it ascend rivers, but it will live in inland lakes. It 
is said to be especially sensitive to musical sounds. P. hispida 
is British, but a rare visitor to our islands. It is essentially an 
Arctic species. The Harp Seal, P. groenlandica, is so called on 
account of a harp-shaped black bar in the males, which starts at 
