GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 669 



probably Halichcerus grypus was the species taken for it." * Its 

 occurrence in Iceland is well attested, and, according to Eobert 

 Collett, it is found in small numbers along all the rocky coasts 

 of Norway, from the fjords of Finmark down to latitude 62, t 

 where it occurs all the year. He believes it to have been for- 

 merly much more numerous there than it is now. Malmgren 

 also gives it as a rare visitor to the coast of Finmark, and as oc- 

 curring only late in autumn or winter. He records the capture 

 of one taken near Tromso about the end of October in 1861. 

 It is stated to be rare about Jan Mayen, J but of frequent occur- 

 rence along the ice-fringed shores of West Spitzbergen, where, 

 according to von Heuglin, it is found from July to September, 

 while Malmgren believes it may winter there. Payer gives it 

 as abundant at Franz- Josef Land, where this and the Harp Seal 

 were the only species observed. It has been frequently re- 

 ported as occurring along the Arctic coast of Europe and Asia. 

 Von Middendorff believes it is this species that the Samoedes 

 have reported as so abundant at the mouth of the Taimyr Eiver, 

 and as found on the Taimyr Sea. It doubtless not only occurs 

 along the Chatanga to Chatangskij Pogost, but prooably 

 reaches the mouth of the Chata.|| 



In respect to its distribution in the North Pacific, Temminck 

 states that its skins are carried to Japan as. an article of com- 

 merce, and that he has seen an incomplete one brought from 

 that country by Siebold.fl He does not state, however, that it 

 inhabits the Japan coast, as some authors have apparently im- 

 plied. Wagner says, " Das Leidner Museum besitzt Felle von 

 Sitka, aber nicht von Japan." ** It has not been reported, how- 

 ever, as found at the ur Seal or Prybilow Islands. There are 

 several specimens in the National Museum collected at Plover 

 Bay, on the Siberian side of Behring's Straits. 



Yon Schrenck states, on the authority of the natives, that it 

 is common on the southern shore of the Ochots Sea, in the G ulf 

 of Tartary, in the "Amur-Limane," and even in the Amoor 

 River, but adds that the old animals only come into the mouth 

 of the river, while the younger ones go somewhat higher up. 



* Zoologist, 2d ser., vol. vii, p. 3336. 



tBemserkninger til Norges Pattedyrfauna, 1876, p. 58. 



\ German Arctic Expedition, 1869-70, p. 62. 



$ New Lands within the Arctic Circle, 1877, p. 266. 



|| See von Heuglin, Reisen nach dem Nordpolarmeer, etc., p. 58. 



1f Fauna Japonica, Mam. Marins, p. 2. 



** Schreber's Saugthiere, vii, p. 21. 



