THE SEA-LION 289 



continue on till they come to the Gulf Stream on the 

 banks of Newfoundland, which they reach about the end 

 of each year. At the end of January they again begin 

 to turn northwards. 



The vast destruction of seals by man has greatly 

 diminished their numbers in many localities, and has 

 actually exterminated them in not a few. The common 

 seal is found both in Europe and America, and on the 

 Pacific as well as on the Atlantic sides of the latter con- 

 tinent. It is frequently met with in France and England, 

 and is not rare in Spain. It is the only one which is 

 common on the eastern coast of the United States. 



This kind, like other species of the group, is certainly 

 attracted by musical sounds ; probably only through 

 curiosity, because it is similarly attracted by any unusual 

 movements. Mr. Bell tells us, in his " British Quad- 

 rupeds," that, in the Orkney Islands, if people are passing 

 in boats, seals will often come quite close up to the boat, 

 and stare at them, following for a long time together ; if 

 people speak loud, they seem to wonder what may be the 

 matter ! The Church of Hoy, in Orkney, is situated near 

 a small sandy bay, much frequented by these creatures, and 

 it was observed that when the bell rang for divine service, 

 all the seals within hearing swam directly for the shore, 

 and kept looking about them, as if surprised rather than 

 frightened, and this continued as long as the bells rang. 



Although it feeds mainly on fish, it will occasionally 

 capture sea-birds, swimming beneath them and seizing 

 them as they rest on the surface of the water, and they 

 often make raids upon fishermen's nets. 



The Greenland, or harp seal is (Fig. 75) another 

 northern form common to both hemispheres. It is of a 

 yellowish white colour, and the male has a crescentic 

 black mark encircling the greater part of its back. 



