Belying upon the accuracy of observation acquired by long ex- 

 perience, I adopt this seal as a new species, and give the description of 

 its appearance, as I received it from Mr. Morris. Length of the adult 

 male about 4 feet, the female being smaller ; the under-fur abundant, 

 in texture fine, and very soft, and, when prime, of a rich plum-colour. 

 Externally the animals are nearly uniform grey, and they possess a 

 silver-grey tuft of hairs, or top-knot, on the head. This seal appears to 

 be rare, only a few specimens having been taken ; some were seen on 

 the south-east coast of New Zealand, evidently stragglers driven far 

 away from home. Mr. Morris has been told that they were formerly 

 common on the shores of Patagonia and the Island of Juan Fernandez. 



It will be found by comparing this seal with the Arctocephalus 

 Q-rayii, or, Falklandicus of Dr. Gfray, that in many important respects 

 the two greatly assimilate, and that, in relation to others of the same 

 group, dispersed over the Southern Seas, they in a marked manner alike 

 disagree. 



Dr. Grray, however, makes no allusion to the top-knot ; but the skin 

 of the adult female in the British Museum, upon which he based the 

 specific characters, may possibly have been imperfect, or deprived of 

 the coronal appendage during the process of preparation for export. 



With such a doubt as to the presence or absence of so peculiar a 

 feature in the London specimen, I cannot do otherwise than regard the 

 present animal as a distinct species. 



HAIE SEALS Adults, with sparse under-fur. 



Genus ZALOPnus, 1 Gill. 

 Incisors ^f, canines pi, molars 5^ = 34. 

 Molars large, thick, closely approximated. 



The skull, general form narrow ; muzzle narrow ; face considerably 

 produced 3 ; sagittal crest greatly developed. 



In size intermediate between the Arctocephali and the Otarise, and 

 in external features distinct from either. The adult animals always 

 possess a sparse under-fur. 



ZALOPHUS GTILLESPII, Macbain. Californian Hair Seal. 

 Synonyms Arctoceplialus Gilliespii, Grray, B. M. C., p. 55. 



ZalopJius Gillespii, Gray, Suppl., p. 28, Allen, B. M. C. Z., 



vol. 2, p. 68. 

 Otaria Stetteri, Schlegel. 



1 Za, strongly, and A<ty>os, crest ; in allusion to the great development of the 

 sagittal crest of the skull. 



2 " In all the skulls we have of the genus (arctocephalus) , a line drawn across the 

 palate at the front edge of the zygoruatic arch leaves one-third of the palate behind 

 the line, and two-thirds in front of it ; while \n this species, Gilliespii, i leaves only 

 one-fourth behind, and very nearly three-fourths in front of the line." Gray, B. 

 M. C., p. 55. 



