704 THE CARNIVORES 



giving it a rotary motion, like that of a water buoy at play. The unwary bird on 

 the wing, seeing the object near by, alights to catch it, while the sea-lion at the 

 same moment settles beneath the waves, and at one bound, with extended jaws, 

 seizes its screaming prey, and instantly devours it. 



The Californian sea-lion is the species most commonly seen in captivity in Eu- 

 rope, as it appears to thrive better than any other of the eared seals in that state. 



In captivity these sea-lions display great affection for one another ; and when 

 one of a pair dies the survivor not unfrequently pines away and dies soon after. From 

 observations made on captive specimens in Chicago, it appears that before the cub takes 

 to the water the parent secretes a kind of oily fluid from her body, with which the 

 hair of the cub becomes annointed, owing to both animals rolling on the same spot. 



With this sea-lion (O. hookeri] we come to a southern species of 



hair-seal, first obtained from the Auckland islands, lying to the south 

 Sea-Lion 



of New Zealand, during the voyage of the Erebus and Terror. This 

 species, of which examples have of late years been exhibited alive in the London 

 Zoological Society's Gardens, is subject to great variation in color, some specimens 

 being grayish, while others have a more or less markedly brown tinge. The head 

 is readily distinguished from that of the preceding species by its nearly straight 

 profile ; the muzzle is of considerable length, the ear of medium size, and the bristles 

 on the muzzle well developed. The skull is characterized by the extreme narrow- 

 ness of the palate, and has .seven upper cheek-teeth in the latter respect agreeing 

 with that of the southern sea-lion. 



The hair-seal (O. lobata), inhabiting the seas of Australia, appears 



to form a kind of connecting link between the hair and the fur-seals, 

 Hair-Seal 



the cubs having a thick coat of soft under-fur, which quite disappears 



in the adult. This indicates that the distinction between hair and fur-seals is of no 

 great zoological importance, although it forms a convenient mode of classifying the 

 members of this difficult group. The profile of the head is nearly straight, and the 

 whole head large and massive, with rather small ears. The males are considerably 

 darker than the females, and the cubs are black. From the presence of a stripe of 

 rich, deep, fawn color (which is lighter than the general tint of the body) running 

 across the hinder part of the head, nape, and sides of the neck, the name of cowled 

 seal has been applied to this species. The general length of old males is from eight 

 to nine feet, but few such specimens are stated now to exist. These seals were 

 found abundantly in King George sound, and also in Bass strait. The Seal Rocks 

 off Port Stephens, to the northward of Sydney, partly derive their name from the 

 presence of colonies of this species. 



THE NORTHERN SEA-BEAR (Otaria ursina) 



The well-known northern .sea-bear, or northern fur-seal, is the first representa- 

 tive of the true fur-seals, and the only one found in the Northern Hemisphere. 

 In this, as in the other fur-seals, the pelage is soft, with an abundant under-fur; 

 and the color of the adult is some shade of dark gray, while the young are black. 

 There are six cheek-teeth in the upper jaw. 



