viii. SEALS AND SEA-LIONS. Ill 



the fish he throws them, but to miss any particular piece 

 out of five. He says, " You must let the third (or the 

 fourth, or any other) go by ; " and the creature allows this 

 piece to pass him, catching all the others without fail. 

 The fish is bolted whole, and the mouth and teeth of the 

 members of the seal-tribe are modified in relation to their 

 special diet. The jaws are rather long and narrow, and 

 the cheek-teeth behind the long canines are conical, sharp- 

 pointed, and backward sloping, and are thus well adapted 

 for seizing and holding, but not for masticating or divid- 

 ing, the active slippery prey. Although fish is the staple 

 food, and is devoured in large quantities, a captive sea- 

 lion at San Francisco consuming no less than forty pounds 

 every day, both seals and sea-lions will also eat crus- 

 taceans, and do not disdain, on occasion, a penguin or a 

 gull. According to Captain Scammon, the Californian 

 sea-lion displays no little cunning in decoying and catch- 

 ing galls. When in pursuit the animal, he says, dives 

 deeply under water and swims some distance from where 

 he disappeared ; then rising cautiously, he exposes the tip 

 of his nose above the surface, " at the same time giving it 

 a rotary motion, like that of a water-bug at play." The 

 unwary bird, seeing the object near by, alights to catch it, 

 while the sea-lion at the same moment settles beneath 

 the waves. Then at one bound, with extended jaws, he 

 seizes his screaming prey, and instantly devours it. 



A curious fact with regard to the dietary of the seals 

 and sea-lions is the habit they have of swallowing stones, 

 of which several pounds weight may sometimes be found 

 in the stomach of a sea-lion. The sailors believe that this 

 is for ballast, to enable the fat, sleek creatures to dive 

 more easily. Captain Pain, speaking of Patagonian sea- 

 lions, says : " They are fatter at this time (November 7) 

 than at any other, and have to take in a quantity of 



