250 COMMON SEAL. 



able degree of continuance, on dry land ; forsak- 

 ing, at particular periods, the water, and congre- 

 gating in vast multitudes on the shores, on float- 

 ing ice, or on insulated rocks; especially during 

 the season in which the young are produced. 



The most common species, or that which seems 

 to have been known from the times of the most 

 remote antiquity, is the Phoca vitulina, or Sea- 

 Calf, as it is generally termed. 



COMMON SEAL. 



Phoca Vitulina. P. capite inauriculato et cervice Itsvi, corf ore fusco. 



Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. p. 63. 

 Earless brown Seal, with smooth head and neck. 

 Vitulus maris oceani. Rondel, pise. p. 458. 

 Phoca seu vitulus marinus. Gesn. aquat. 702. Aldr. pise. 722. 

 Le Phoque. Buff. 1 3 . /. 3 3 3 . //. 45 . 

 Common Seal. Pennant S>uadr. 2. p. 270. 

 The common Seal, or Sea-Calf. 



This animal is a native of the European seas, 

 and is found about all the coasts of the northern 

 hemisphere, and even extends as far as the oppo- 

 site one, being seen in vast quantities about the 

 southern polar regions. We are informed by 

 Mr. Pennant, that it also inhabits some fresh wa- 

 ter lakes, as that of Baikal, Oron, &c. and that 

 in these lakes it is considerably smaller, but much 

 fatter than when found in the sea. The Count 

 de Buffon imagines the Mediterranean Seal, a dis- 

 tinct species from this, to have been the Phoca 



