224 TEN YEARS IN SWEDEN. 



GEOUP 1. Incisors, --. 



A. Molars with three or four points sitting in a row. 

 Gen. Phoca, L. , 



34. PHOCA VITULINA, Desm. Spracklig Skal. The Common 



Seal. , D. F. 



Molars oblique, so that the hinder margin of one 

 is in contact with the front outer margin of the next 

 behind it. 



Body round, covered with small spots of black, white, 

 or yellow grey, darker along the back; a pale ring 

 round the eye. Length 5 to 6 ft. 



Is the commonest of all the seals in the Sound, Cattegat, 

 the west coast of Norway, and far up into Finland ; rare 

 in the Baltic. 



35. P. ANNELLATA, Nilss. Einglad Skal. D. F. 



Grinders arranged in the direction of the jaw, not 



obliquely as in the last. 



Body elliptical, black above ; back or sides covered 



with large oval rings ; no ring round the eye ; whiskers 



thin and brown. Length 3 to 4 ft. 



Is the smallest of all the Scandinavian seals. Not at all 

 uncommon off these coasts, but appears in different places 

 according to season. Thus they are never seen off the Bohus 

 coast, except in the winter, whereas they remain off the 

 coast of Scania throughout the year. It is, however, most 

 common in the Bothnia and North Baltic. This species 

 may always be distinguished from the common seal (and I 

 have seen both in the same pack off the southern coasts) by 

 its much darker colour and the large oval white spots on 

 the back and sides, about 2 in. long. It is singular that 

 this species should be unknown in the British seas, since it 

 has been taken in the Channel off the French coast. 



36. P. GROENLANDICA, Mull. Gronlands Skal. The Green- 



land Seal. F. 



The grinders arranged in a straight series, with a 

 small interval between them. 



