THE SEA-LEOPAKD. 27 



James Ross obtained it in the Antarctic pack-ice to the north of Ross Sea, as also 

 did the ' Southern Cross ' and the ' Belgica ' later on. More recently it has been 

 reported by the Scottish Expedition from the South Orkneys, and by the Swedish 

 Expedition from South Georgia, and from 65 19' S. lat. in 56 48' W. long. 



In the ' Discovery,' during our passage through the pack to the north of Ross Sea 

 in January, we saw one example only, which we procured (fig. 22, p. 28). It was an 

 adult female, and in full milk, but we saw no sign of a young one. On our homeward 

 voyage we again saw two examples in loose and disintegrating pack-ice, on March 1st, 

 quite close to the Balleny Islands. 



The 'Morning' procured three examples also in the Ross Sea pack, about 68 and 

 69 S. lat, in 173 and 178 E. long. 



The identity of this seal has, I think, on many occasions been mistaken. Mr. 

 Borchgrevink seems to have confused the two so-called Leopard Seals, and quite 

 habitually speaks of the Sea Leopard (Stenorhinchus leptonyx] when giving an excellent 

 description of Leptonychotes weddelli. Mr. Bruce also appears to have made the same 

 mistake in Graham's Land. Stenorhinchus is a solitary animal,* and the seals which he 

 saw in " a great host, moaning loudly," must surely have been Weddell's Seals. I can 

 also understand Dr. Donald's note that " the females of the larger species were larger 

 than the males " only by believing that the animals he speaks of were Weddell's Seals. 



It is with all due deference that I urge such criticisms, but it is well to correct, 

 if possible, misapprehensions which have arisen from these accounts, for Stenorhinchus, 

 above all things, is in the Antarctic ice a widely scattered species, not found in large 

 herds, and not " one of the two best-represented seals in the pack-ice near Victoria 

 Land," as Mr. Borchgrevink has stated ; nor can it be said to breed in Robertson Bay, 

 except possibly on very rare occasions. Leptonychotes, on the other hand, does all 

 these things, and it is of Leptonychotes that they should rightly have been recorded. 



Mr. Moseley's note of a herd of 400 of these animals at Kerguelen Island is 

 perhaps less open to doubt. It is more probable, however, that this was a collection 

 of Stenorhinchus than of Leptonychotes. It is just possible that it was neither, although 

 both are known to have occurred there. 



But it may here be pointed out that we know practically nothing of the breeding 

 habits of Stenorhinchus, and that it may collect for the purpose of breeding in the out- 

 lying islands of such places as Kerguelen. It seems occasionally to produce its young 

 in the Antarctic pack ice, or in the neighbourhood of Antarctic lauds, but no account has 

 ever yet been given of anything approaching an undoubted ' rookery ' in the Antarctic. 

 The ' Southern Cross ' Expedition claimed to have found it breeding in Robertson Bay, 

 but the animal instanced seems really to have been Leptonychotes, which bred freely there. 



The contour of Stenorhinchus, as may be judged from various photographs that 



* Compare also Dr. Andersson's account of this animal in South Georgia : " Es kam vor, das wir dort bis 

 zu 10 Stuck auf demselben Strande nicht weit von einander sahen, aber sie schienen in keiner Weise sich um 

 einander zu kurnrnern, so dass er keinesfalls als ein geselliges Tier zu bezeichnen ist." Op. cit., p. 11. 



