HABITS. 



653 



The females take up their stations on the ice very near liL' 

 each other, the young being- thus sometimes born not more than 

 three feet apart ; they also all bring forth their young at very 

 nearly the same time. The males accompany the females to 

 the breeding stations, and remain in the vicinity, yet rarely 

 upon the ice, congregating mostly in the open pools between 

 the ice -floes. The mothers leave their young on the ice, to fish 

 in the neighborhood for their own subsistence, but frequently 

 return to the young to suckle them. The young increase rap- 

 idly in size, and when three weeks old are said to be nearly 

 half as large as the old ones. At this time they are the fattest 

 and are considered to be in best condition for killing. Later 

 the fat diminishes although the general bulk continues to in- 

 crease. If undisturbed the old Seals will remain amongst the 

 ice at the breeding-grounds till after the moult, which occurs 

 late in the spring, for the purpose of rubbing oft* the old hair 

 against the ice. 



The annual moulting-time, or "skin-sickness" {'' Hautlirank- 

 lieW^), as the Germans expressively term it, is evidently a period 

 of great discomfort, and occurs within four or five weeks after 

 the birth of the young. During this time they rapidly lose 

 their fat, and become more watchful and restless. xVs Mr. Car- 

 roll puts it, about the middle of A\)v\\ the old Seals, and the 

 yearlings and two-year-olds, " mount the ice to scrub them- 

 selves". If the day be warm, he adds, " the skiu on the back 

 is sure to be sunburnt, so much so, that you can tear it off with 

 your fingers; they will remain on the ice to be killed when 

 once they get sunburnt rather than go in the water. When 

 they do get in the water they will cry with pain and sometimes 

 mount the ice again." 



For breeding stations the Seals select " sheet-ice", in which, 

 says Mr. Carroll, they keep holes open through which they may 

 get to their young. A rim soon forms around these holes 

 caused by the freezing of the water forced up by the Seals in 

 passing through them, but they are sure to keep one side of the 

 hole on a level with the water, the side they use in going up 

 and down. They assemble in such numbers that the cry of the 

 vast number of the old and young may be heard to the distance 

 of several miles, particularly if the ear be applied to the ice. 

 The same author states that at the Newfoundland breeding- 

 grounds no wind will break up the "whelping ice" equal to a 

 strong southea.st wind ; no matter how deep the northern bays 



