702 HALICHCERUS GRYPUS GRAY SEAL. 



stationary for minutes together, with the head and neck out of 

 the water, staring at a boatman or any other object that at- 

 tracts their attention. This curiosity, in jjarts where they were 

 not often disturbed, procured me frequent shots with the rifle 5 

 for when I observed them basking upon the rocks, twenty or 

 thirty in a herd, during the ebb of tide, I used to land at some 

 distance and make all haste to the point where they were as- 

 sembled ; and though I might not get within shot before they 

 took to the sea, I was sure of some of them re-appearing quite 

 within distance after their first plunge into tbe water. In this 

 way I have killed several, but never had the good luck to se- 

 cure the carcass ; for even though some of them floated a short 

 time after death, which, however, is rarely the case, they were 

 certain to be swept away and buried in the heavy stream which 

 runs past the point I have mentioned, and where the Seals 

 were generally assembled, before the boat could come round 

 and reach them. . . . 



" The Great Seal seldom wanders to any great distance from 

 the Farn Islands, as it is only seen occasionally as far north as Ber- 

 wick Bay, and ofl' Dunstanborough and Coquet Island to the 

 south. It also seems jealous of the presence of any other si^e- 

 cies within its peculiar precincts, as the Common Seal, Phoca 

 vituUna, is scarcely ever seen within its territory, though small 

 herds frequent the coast of the main land nearly opposite, upon 

 the bar of Budle Bay, and at Holy Island." 



Mr. James Wilson, in his "Notes regarding the distinctive 

 habits of the Scotch Phocse or Seals," as observed by him at 

 the Western Islands, says, on the authority < >f Mr. Archibald 

 M'Neill, "The largest of these .... is known by the na- 

 tive name of Tapvaist, and although it associates occasionally 

 with the other kinds, yet it diflers in many respects in its hab- 

 its. I presume it to be the species usually designated by our 

 British writers as the Great Seal, or Phoca harhataJ' Although 

 it "is observed occasionally," he continues, "on shore with indi- 

 viduals of other kinds, .... it may be characterized as 

 being of solitary habits, and as frequenting the most remote 

 and undisturbed situations. It is neither so lively nor so 

 watchful as the common seal, nor is it so easily alarmed. . , . 

 One of the most characteristic and distinctive traits in its his- 

 tory is derived from its period of production, viz. the end of 

 September or commencement of October, while that of the 

 common seal is usually the beginning of June. . . . The 



