706 HALICHGERUS GRYPUS GRAY SEAL. 



In many respects Cneiff's above-cited account recalls the 

 habits of the Ringed Seal, but his description of it indicates its 

 weight to be about twice that of the Wikare or Harbor Seal, 

 which seems to preclude the supposition of its being the Ringed 

 Seal. Besides this, the Gray Seal is well known to be an 

 abundant species in the Baltic, where the Bearded Seal, with 

 which Oneiff's account seems in most particulars to agree, is not 

 reported to occur. The breeding season is here distinctly 

 affirmed to occur about the end of February, * while in Iceland 

 and in the Western Islands of Scotland it occurs in October and 

 November. At the last-named localities the species resorts to 

 outlying rocks for its breeding-sites, while in the Bothnian Gulf 

 the young are brought forth on the ice. The large herds here 

 met with, in contrast with the small parties seen elsewhere, 

 is also a noteworthy discrepancy not easily explained. 



With one exception, this is the only Seal that is known to bring 

 forth its young in the autumn. Collett states that the Bearded 

 Seal breeds in October on the coast of Norway, and this again 

 is the only instance known to me of the Bearded Seal having 

 been reported as breeding at any other time than very early in 

 spring. Although both the Gray and the Bearded Seals have 

 about the same range on the Norwegian coast, it may seem 

 rash to question the report of so trustworthy a naturalist as 

 Mr. Collett, yet, if I rightly understand his remarks, his in- 

 formation touching this point is given at second hand, and it 

 therefore seems possible that his correspondent may have mis- 

 taken the Gray Seal for the Bearded Seal. If such be the case, 

 the breeding of the Gray Seal in the Bothnian Gulf in spring 

 may be regarded as exceptional in the history of the species, 

 while the reported breeding of the Bearded Seal in autumn 

 would be the result of a malidentification of the species, t 



* Liechtenstein has described a young example, still in the white coat, 

 taken on the Pommeranian coast, March 28, 1821, which seems to confirm 

 Cneiff's account of the breeding of this species early in spring. Abhandl. 

 der Berlin Akad., 1822-23 (1825), p. 1. 



tin order not to do Mr. Collett injustice I quote the following: After re- 

 ferring to what he believes to be the southernmost breeding station of the 

 Bearded Seal on the coast of Norway, namely, on some rocky islets off 

 Trondhjem Fjord, he says: "Af de udfyrlige Meddelelser, som jeg efter- 

 haanden har modtaget af disse 0ers Eier, Hr. Borthen, freingaar det, at 

 Phoca barbata i sit Levesaet og Yngleforholde i flere vigtige Henseender skiller 

 sig fra de af vore dvrige nordiske Saeler, hvorom vi have nogen Kundskab. 



