640 ,^PHOCA GRGENLANDICA HARP SEAL. 



r 



Phocaj)ceanica. Gaimard, in 1851, simply througli malideiitifi- 

 catiou, referred examples of the present species to Phoca annel- 

 Mta. 



Of the nine synonyms of this sj^ecies one is nearly contem- 

 poraneous with the tenable name, and under the circumstances 

 of its occurrence was unavoidable; live are due to deliberate,, 

 intentional, and needless change of names; two are based on. 

 immature examples, and one is the result of malidentitication. 



Geographical Distribution. Although the Harp Seal 

 has a circumj^olar distribution, it appears not to advance so far 

 northward as the Kinged Seal or the Bearded Seal ; yet the icy 

 seas of the Korth are preeminently its home. It is not found 

 on the Atlantic coast of North America in any numbers south 

 of Newfoundland. A few are taken at the Magdalen Islands, 

 and while on their way to the Grand Banks some must pass 

 very near the Nova Scotia coast. Dr. Gilpin, however, includes 

 it only i)rovisionally among the Seals that visit the shores of that 

 Province. It doubtless occasionally wanders, like the Crested 

 Seal, to points far south of its usual range, as I find a skeleton 

 of this species in the collection of the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology, bearing the legend "Nahant, Mass., L. Agassiz". I 

 have at times felt doubtful about the correctness of the as- 

 signed locality, as this seems to be the only proof of the oc- 

 currence of this species on the Massachusetts coast. I have, 

 liowever, recently been informed by Dr. C. 0. Abbott, of New 

 Jersey, that a Seal, described to him as being about six feet 

 long, white, with a broad black band along each side of the 

 back, was taken near Trenton, in that State, during the winter 

 of 1878-79. This description can of course refer to no other 

 species than Phoca groenlandica, and as it comes from a wholly 

 trustworthy source it seems to substantiate the occasional oc- 

 currence of this species as far south as New Jersey. Von Heug- 

 lui gives it as ranging "in den amerikanischen Meeren siid- 

 wiirts bis New York,"* but I know not on what authority. 



The Harp Seals are well known to be periodically exceed- 

 ingly abundant along the shores of N ewfoundland, where, dur- 

 ing spring, hundreds of thousands are annually killed. In 

 their migrations they pass along the coast of Labrador, and 

 ajjpear with regularity twice a year off the coast of Southem 

 Greenland. Capt. J. C. Koss states that in BafBn's Bay thej 



*Keisen nach dem Nordpolarmeer, p. 56. 



