HABITS. 309 



pain, and if he seemed to be much out of humor she would 

 soothe him by swimming up and giving him a good old-fash- 

 ioned conjugal kiss. Finally they quieted down to the hum- 

 drum of regular wedded life, and early in October I noticed 

 that the female was suffering from a violent catarrh, which 

 gradually disappeared, followed by a dry cough, particularly at 

 night. It was in March when I first thought she showed signs 

 of pregnancy, and in May, from her appearance when out of 

 the water, I became convinced of it. On June 25 the young 

 one was born, making the period of gestation as nearly as I 

 could judge about ten months, and it was some days before the 

 mother would allow me to handle it, and when I did succeed in 

 so doing it was always at the risk of getting a nip, as he was 

 certainly the most ill-tempered, snarling little brute with which 

 a dry nurse could be vexed. I soon found out that there was 

 but one way of handling him with impunity, and that was by 

 suddenly catching him just back of the flippers and quickly 

 lifting him clear of the floor, when he would snap and struggle 

 for a few moments and then quietly give up. I frequently took 

 him out of the house for the purpose of showing him to friends, 

 and for the first three or four weeks he never made the slight- 

 est attempt to get into the water, although I invariably placed 

 him on the lip outside of the door and loosed my hold in order 

 that he could be fully seen. During this period the mother 

 was let out for a bath twice daily, and after she had played 

 about as long as she wished she would swim up to the closed 

 door, rear up on the sill and bellow until she was allowed to 

 get in to her calf. Invariably in the morning, so soon as I 

 would start across the bridge in order to turn her out, the male 

 would swim up to the door and await her appearance, always 

 exacting his morning kiss before he would allow her to plunge 

 into the water. After playing with her for a few minutes he 

 would commence sentry duty, back and forth along the parti- 

 tion, occasionally making fierce rushes if the other approached 

 too near to it. 



" In the meanwhile, as the young one never showed the 

 slightest inclination to go into the water, in spite of frequent 

 opportunities to do so, I began to watch for a second appear- 

 ance of the oleaginous matter. During the fifth week after 

 birth, on going into the house one morning, I found marks of 

 grease in every direction, and the youngster shone as if he had 

 just emerged from an oil tank. Taking a bucket, I filled it with 



