20 



Soiitlicyn Cross. 



■: "one iiuu-li lar>;er in lloyal Sound." ^ At all events, the 

 . u which the • CiMllaujcr' brought home has proved to be a 



,..y jihotfji. 



In \\\» voyajjf on the ' Balacna,' Mr. Bruce saw only al)out four 

 of thi.s spt'cie^s altogether, and these singly ; Dr. Donald, however, 

 inut witli gn-ater numbers. Two were quite young, and one of these 

 ho attempted unsuccessfully to bring on board alive. 



('..ntrary t« this experience, we learn from Mr. Borchgrevink 

 (p. 23r.) that WeddeU's Seal was, next to Lohodon, the ''best repre- 

 - '.mI" Seal met with during the passage of the ' Southern Cross' 

 w,. ugh the pack-ice.' Its numbers increased considerably as the 

 ship proceeded southwards, and in the vicinity of Coulman Island 

 and Cafw Constance in Lady Newnes Bay as many as three 

 hundred were seen together. It was found breeding in Eobertson 

 Ikiy, and wcurred throughout the winter. 



If(il>i(s. — Pnictically nothing is known of the habits of WeddeU's 

 ^ ' Like the Crab-eating Seal, it feeds, when on the pack-ice, 



I ding to Dr. IJacovitza, on Eupliausia, and the young, which 

 . aihle little plump and hairy Bears, are born in September. 

 L'lilike Lofxxhn, it does not show its teeth on being approached, 

 but executes a manoeuvre which is described by Eacovitza in the 

 fi»Ilowing words: *' II ouvre une large gueule rose et d'ordinaire se 

 renverse .sur le dos eu relevant en meme temps sa tete et I'arriere 

 tniin, 8e courbant ainsi en arc. C'est une simple manoeuvre pour 

 rennemi as.sez naif pour se laisser prendre." It seems to 

 \>< u 'locrve the epithets "silly" and "lazy." Moseley's Kerguelcn 

 Island .s|»ecimcn " .showed no fight at all, and never snarled or 

 slntwrd its teeth." It was killed with a stone and a huntinii knife. 



Kj^trnml appearance. — This species seems to be recognisaljle 

 mlher by its negative than its positive characters. Although 



■te<l, it is not so distinctly or abundantly so as the True Leopard- 



S,-al. .•*4» that it is, in this respect, intermediate between that 



iind lto.ss's Seal. Moseley describeil ^ the specimen whicli 



ni.tl at Kerguelen Island as " very like the common British 



'.n'" It is spotted yellowish-white and dark grey on 



Ml :i T tl M* I r-i 1 



H. N. M-Hit-lcyV ' NoU'8 l.y a Naturalist: an account of Observations made 



I'f II M.S." C'W/.-«(^rr" round the world in the years 1872-187G,' 



^••w" i-dition, \\. 171, I8i»2. 



'^'■-■'' V ni.ido the very pardonable error of alluding to bis 



^ttiiorhi/iirlnis hptomjx, Gray)" since such errors are 



t.Ta<licated. Moseley's description is, for instance, 



... , ., . '•'<• '''r'lc Leoi)ard-Seal ou p. 143 of vol. ii. of the 



»j >Ktunii iliRtory. 



