THE NORTHERN SEA-LION 699 



England for a year without fluid, except such as adhered to the fish, he fed it with. 

 He tells me, moreover, he has noticed the common seals occasionally suck in water 

 as a horse would, but the otaria never. Another curious circumstance he assures 

 me of is, that in the stomach of every one he has examined, with the single excep- 

 tion of a young animal, there existed a quantity of pebbles. The amount varied in 

 individuals from a few to many." 



_ .. The females give birth to a single young one about the end of the 



year, equivalent to our midsummer. During the pairing season, which 

 is in February and March, pitched battles occur between the males, during which 

 the females look quietly on. At such times the males are savage; and if attacked 

 will stand their ground. The old males generally utter a low kind of growl, but in 

 the breeding season this is prolonged into a loud, voluminous, interrupted roar. 

 The young utter a kind of bleating cry. From July to November these seals mi- 

 grate southward from the Falklands. In color the young are of a deep chocolate, 

 put paler after the first year; the old males being of a rich brown tint, and the fe- 

 males grayer; while at all ages, and in both sexes, the flippers are of a darker hue 

 than the body. 



THE NORTHERN SEA-LION {Otaria stelleri} 



The northern sea-lion, which is likewise a hair- seal, differs from the preceding 

 species, and agrees with all those that follow by the absence of a mane on its neck, 

 by its narrow and pointed nose, relatively-long ears, and by the flattened palate of 

 the skull, which is not truncated behind. In the concave facial profile it differs 

 from the southern sea-lion. 



This is the largest member of the whole group, full-grown males, according to 

 Mr. Allen, measuring from eleven to twelve and one-half or thirteen feet in total 

 length, of which the tail forms three or four inches; while their girth varies from 

 about eight to ten feet, and their weight is estimated at from 1,000 to 1,300 pounds. 

 In color the young are of a rich, dark, chestnut brown. The adults, when they first 

 reach the breeding grounds, are of a light, brownish-rufous color in both sexes, the 

 tint being darker between the fore-limbs and on the under parts. Later on in the 

 season the color changes, however, to a golden rufous or ochrey tint; and when 

 the new winter coat appears in November, the color has been described as a light 

 sepia, or Vandyke brown with deeper tints on the under parts; and at this season of 

 the year the females are distinctly of a lighter color than the males. 

 Distribution This fine seal innabits the shores of the North Pacific from Behring 

 Strait southward to California and Japan, and is one of the species 

 found in the Pribilof islands in Behring Sea; its northern limits being apparently 

 determined by the southern border of the Polar floating ice. It was first discovered 

 in the year 1741, during Behring's first expedition, and was described by the natu- 

 ralist Steller, who accompanied that navigator. 



Mr. W. D. Elliot, writing of this species in the Pribilof islands, 



observes that it has a really leonine appearance and bearing, greatly 



enhanced by the rich, golden rufous of its coat, and the ferocity of its expression. 



Although provided with flippers, to all external view the same as in the fur-seal, it 



