Notes on Antarctic Seals. 77 



Of its breeding habits nothing is known. Three beautiful skins of 

 this Seal now rest in the British Museum, unci two skulls, one having 

 no molar teeth whatever, the other having six molars on each side in 

 tlie upper jaw, and five on each side in the lower. The latter skull 

 was that of a female, belonging to one of the steel-grey skins, 

 whereas the former was the skull of a male which belonged to the 

 brOwnish-grey individual. 



The food of this species consists of Octopus and vegetable stuff or 

 sea-weeds, as was proved in three cases by Mr. Hanson from an 

 examination of the contents of the stomach {vide infra, pp. 89, 90, 92). 



The vocal powers of this Seal have been well described by 

 Dr. Eacovitza, and, apart from this remarkable characteristic, the 

 thickness of its neck and the enormous protrusion of the chin and 

 throat are peculiarities of the species. 



The colour of this species is either of a pure steel-grey or of a 

 greyish-brown colour, deepening considerably in tone towards the 

 middle line of the back, and becoming almost white on the under 

 surface. Starting from the npper lip, which is nearly white, a broad 

 band of pale grey extends backwards on the neck to be lost in the 

 grey of the shoulder. Just below this, starting from the lower lip 

 and the chin, which are nearly black, a broad dark grey band passes 

 backwards and fades into the lighter colour on the chest and 

 shoulders. These two bands are in perfect harmony both in colom-, 

 tone, and direction, with a somewhat limited number of indistinct 

 pale and narrow markings whicli streak and line the sides of the 

 animal from the shoulder almost to the tail. These parallel stripes, 

 some inches in length in the region of the shoulder, are somewhat 

 broken into splashes and spots towards the sides and flanks of the 

 animal. Nails are present on both hind and fore-limbs, but are 

 small on the latter and still smaller on the former. The dark colour 

 of the back is continued on to the dorsal digit of the hind limb, the 

 other digits and the ventral aspect of the limb being pale. 



Mr. Bernacchi gives the following note : — " The least known 

 of all the Antarctic Seals is the Eoss's Seal {Ommatophoca rossi). 

 Only a few specimens of it have ever been procured, four of 

 them by the ' Southern Cross ' Expedition. Of its breeding habits 

 nothing is known. It, however, has a very wide distribution, 

 having been found on the pack-ice in the neighbourhood of 

 Victoria Land (' Southern Cross '), Alexander Land (' Belgica '), and 

 by Dr. Bruce near Joinville Island and Louis Philippe Land.^ In 



^ As before mentioned, however, the Seals identified by Mr. Bruce as Omma- 

 tophoca were probably White Seals in summer coat. 



