346 



NATURE 



[February lo, 1898 



None of them desired-to imbibe Niagara, or are likely 

 to forget Lord Kelvin. Amongst them there was the 

 deepest feeling of gratitude for the hospitality they 

 received ; hospitality which the most distinguished 

 acknowledged was more kindly and more lavish than 

 they had any right either to expect or to desire. 



THE HABITS OF ICE-SEALS. 



THERE are four species of earless, or true seals in- 

 habiting the boreal part of the North Atlantic and 

 Arctic Oceans which may well be designated ice-seals, 

 since they dwell for a considerable portion of the year 

 either on the solid pack-ice or on ice-floes. These 

 species are the Greenland or harp-seal {Phoca grcen- 

 landica), often termed, on account of the conspicuous 

 black markings on the yellowish-white groundcolour of 

 the back, the saddle-back ; the ringed seal {P. hispida) ; 

 the large bearded seal, or square-flipper {P. barbata) ; 

 and the crested, or hooded seal {Cys/op/tora cris^a/a), the 

 males of which carry the peculiar dilatable sac on the 

 Tiose from which the species derives its names. The 

 first three of these are closely allied forms, but it is not 

 a little remarkable that whenever the young of the first 

 and second are born in a uniform yellowish-white coat, 

 those of the third make their appearance in the world in 

 a dark pdlage ; the white coat being not improbably shed 

 m utero. It is commonly believed that the young of the 

 fourth species are also white-coated, as are certainly 

 those of the more southern grey seal {Halichcerus 

 ^rypus). If a white coat serves as a protection to the 

 new-born " pup " on the ice, it is difficult to see why this 

 type of coloration should have been departed from in 

 the case of one species. But the whole subject is one of 

 great difficulty, as the white-coated young of the grey 

 seal may often be seen in the Hebrides reposing on 

 black rocks. All the four species in question agree in 

 the circumstance that the young are produced during 

 their sojourn on the ice ; but in other respects very con- 

 siderable differences are displayed in regard to habits. 



In the first place, the Greenland and the crested seal 

 are essentially migratory animals, the former associating 

 in immense herds and the latter in smaller parties, 

 whereas the bearded seal, which is considerably the 

 largest of the three, only makes a slight movement to 

 the south when compelled by the increase of the winter 

 pack-ice, and is a comparatively solitary creature. But 

 these are by no means the only points of difterence in 

 this respect. The Greenland seal visits the country 

 from which it takes its name twice annually, namely in 

 the autumn and the spring ; and breeds chiefly on the 

 coasts of Jan-Mayen and Newfoundland, the young 

 being produced in the latter district at the beginning of 

 March, but in the former some weeks later. That some 

 of these seals which migrate from Greenland travel west- 

 wards to Jan-Mayen is most probable, but where the 

 remainder pass their time while away from their native 

 land, is not yet ascertained with certainty. The southern 

 migration of these seals on the Atlantic coast of America, 

 ■which commences when the frost sets in, is described as 

 a wonderful sight ; at first small advance parties pass 

 down, and these are followed by the main body, which 

 includes thousands of individuals, and takes about a 

 couple of days in passing a given point. Although 

 during their migration hugging the coasts, the Green- 

 land seals during the breeding-season frequent the 

 heavy floe-ice, at least in East Greenland, which is not 

 liable to break up, and therefore affords them a safe 

 habitation. As they have no difficulty in obtaining 

 access to the water, in this district, at any rate, they do 

 not make breathing-holes ; and it has been commonly 

 supposed that this is their invariable habit, but in a little 



NO. 1476, VOL. 57] 



pamphlet recently issued by Commander Robinson,^ 

 entitled " Ice-riding Pinnipeds," it is stated that when on 

 solid thin ice such holes are made. In disposition this 

 seal is mild and gentle ; and it is a well-ascertained fact 

 that the young are born in the white coat, the British 

 Museum possessing a stuffed example in this state. 

 From its numerical abundance it is commercially one of 

 the most valuable of the true seals. 



As regards the bearded seal, this, as already men- 

 tioned, is a comparatively nire and solitary species, fond 

 of reposing on floating ice in the open sea, and moving 

 southwards only when compelled by the extension of the 

 pack-ice. It is apparently one of the species which does 

 not make a breathing-hole, as it does not frequent large 

 extents of ice ; and it may generally be recognised at a 

 distance by its habit of performing a somersault when 

 diving into the water. In the pamphlet already referred 

 to the suggestion is made that a certain number of the 

 young of this species are infected by the migratory in- 

 stinct of the young Greenland seals, and wander south 

 with them. In addition to the testimony of sealers, 

 a specimen in the Natural History Museum conclusively 

 proves that the young "square-flipper" is born in the 

 darl* coat. 



The ringed seal, which is common to the North 

 Atlantic and Pacific, is a non-migratory species, whose 

 favourite haunts are retired fjords and bays, in which it 

 remains during the time they are tightly packed with ice. 

 When, however, the ice breaks up, the " floe-rats," as they 

 are called by the sealers, retire to the ice-floes, upon 

 which the young are born in March and April. This 

 species always form an " atluk," or breathing-hole in the 

 ice, which is in the form of an oblique passage, through 

 which the surface of the ice can easily be reached from 

 below. The hole appears to be made while the ice is 

 forming ; but accurate accounts of the modus operandi 

 are still required. In the above-mentioned pamphlet it 

 is stated that the animal works on the ice with its front 

 claws, revolving round this pivot with its body ; but it is 

 somewhat difficult to realise how such a method can be 

 effectual, and, primd facie, it would seem more probable 

 that the passage is made while the ice is sufficiently thin 

 to break with the weight of the seal, and kept open by 

 constant use. The breathing-hole affords an easy method 

 of capturing the seals which use it, and the great reduc- 

 tion in the number of these seals is largely due to this 

 method of hunting. 



As it differs much in external form from other ice- 

 seals, so the crested seal has several peculiarities in 

 habits. Unlike the others, it is a bad-tempered animal, 

 living, except when driven to associate more closely by 

 an unusual scarcity of ice, in small parties scattered over 

 a wide extent of ice, always preferring the outside of the 

 pack, or drift ice to the neighbourhood of land, and seldom 

 frequenting either the coasts or isolated rocks. On the 

 American side they are chiefly to be met with near the 

 eastern edge of the main ice-pack, where there are 

 numerous patches of open water, and consequently 

 abundant room. for fishing. Ordinarily small parties of 

 from three to five individuals are scattered over the 

 broken rough ice, at distances of from thirty to fifty 

 yards apart. The easy access to water thus afiforded 

 obviates in general the necessity of making breathing- 

 holes. They are stated to resemble fur-seals in being 

 polygamous ; and the males certainly engage in combats 

 for the possession of the females, during which they utter 

 loud cries which may be heard for miles. In winter 

 these seals travel south, but they do not make the two 

 annual journeys characteristic of the saddle-backs in 

 Greenland. In European seas the crested seal has 

 become comparatively rare, although on the American 



1 I am informed by the author that, owing to certain errors, all available , 

 copies of this work have been cancelled. 



