EXTERNAL CHARACTERS. 635 



on a sliglitly straw-coloured or tawny -yellowish ground, having 

 sometimes a tendency to a reddish-brown tint, which latter colour 

 is often seen in both males and females, but especially in the 

 latter, in oval spots on the dorsal aspect. The pectoral and 

 abdomiual regions have a diugy or tarnished silvery hue, and 

 are not white, as generally described. But the chief character- 

 istic, at least that which has attracted the most notice, so much 

 as to have been the reason for giving it several names, from 

 the peculiar appearance it was thought to present {e. g. ' Harp 

 Seal,' ' Saddleback,' i&c), is the dark marking or band on its 

 dorsal and lateral aspects. This ' saddle-shaped ' band commences 

 at the root of the neck posteriorly, and curves downwards and 

 backwards at each side superior to the anterior flipj)ers, reaches 

 downwards to the abdominal region, whence it curves back- 

 wards anteriorly to the posterior flippers, where it gradually dis- 

 appears, reaching further in some individuals than in others. In 

 some this band is broader than in others and more clearly im- 

 pressed, while in many the markings only present an approxi- 

 mation, in the form of an aggregation of spots more or less 

 isolated. The grey colour verges into a darker hue, almost a 

 black tint, on the muzzle and flippers ; but I have never seen it 

 white on the forehead as mentioned by Fabricius. The muzzle 

 is more prominent than in any other northern Seal. 



^''Female. The female is very different in appearance from the 

 male ; she is not nearly so large, rarely reaching 5 feet in length, 

 and when fully mature her colour is a dull white or yellowish 

 straw-colour, of a tawny hue on the back, but similar to the male 

 on the pectoral and abdominal regions, only, perhaps, somewhat 

 lighter. In some females I have seen the colour totally differ- 

 ent ; it presented a bluish or dark-grey appearance on the back, 

 with peculiar oval markings of a dark colour, apparentlj^ im- 

 pressed on a yellowish or reddish-brown ground. These spots 

 are more or less numerous in diflerent individuals. Some Seal- 

 hunters are inclined to think this a different species of Seal, 

 from the Saddleback, because the appearance of the skin is 

 often so very different and extremely beautiful when taken out 

 of the water, yet as the females are always found among the 

 immense flocks of the Saddleback, and as hardly two of the 

 latter females are alike, but varying in all stages to the mature 

 female, and on account of there being no males to mate with 

 them, I am inclined to believe with Dr. Wallace that these are 

 only younger female Saddlebacks. The muzzle and flippers of 



