154 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



through the water with great speed, and can easily spring clean out 

 of it, while it fearlessly takes "headers" from the rocks. 



It is not easy to make sure of the colour of this animal, as its 

 short stiff coat is so often seen in a wet state, but in any case there 

 is a good deal of variation, several shades of brown being found, 

 while some specimens are distinctly grey ; the female is rather lighter 

 and browner than the male. 



But the most remarkable sexual difference is in the size, the males 

 exceeding the females in bulk in this family more than is the case 

 with almost any other beasts ; in the present species for instance, the 

 male is seven or eight feet long, and the female less than six. The 

 pups have a soft coat of dark slate-coloured fur ; only one is born at 

 a time, and it can see and move about at once, but does not take to 

 the water for some time. 



The food of the Sea-Lion consists mostly of fish and other sea 

 animals ; but it sometimes captures Gulls in a very cunning manner, 

 by sinking under water and wriggling its nose, which it leaves 

 exposed, till it lures the greedy and inquisitive bird within reach of 

 a spring. 



The prey is bolted whole, the pointed grinders of these animals 

 and Seals being unsuited for chewing, but only for keeping a good 

 hold on a slippery morsel. They are extremely voracious, for it has 

 been found that a pair would devour forty pounds of fish daily. Yet 

 they have remarkable powers of fasting, and can go for months at a 

 time without food, sustained by the thick coat of fat or blubber under 

 the skin. They have the peculiar habit of swallowing stones as birds 

 do, but the reason for this practice is not known ; probably, as in the 

 case of birds, which these creatures resemble in their habit of swallow- 

 ing food whole, the stones serve to grind up the food in the stomach. 



This Sea-Lion inhabits the western shores of the North Pacific, 

 and is especially well known on the Californian coast, where in some 

 places it is so tame, owing to protection, that it can be studied at 

 close quarters like a tame animal, feeding on the refuse of the fisheries. 

 It is a very noisy animal, uttering a harsh bark or yelp, and the din 



