xxv] 



CARNIVOEA 



679 



sometimes given to it by whalers is suggested by the tufts of gray 

 hair on the sides of the face. The common Greenland Seal, Phoca 

 vitulina and the Gray Seal Halichoerus grypus, both of which are 

 found round the British coasts in out-of-the-way places, belong to 

 the third family PHOCIDAE, the members of which are distinguished 

 by having no ear-flaps and by being unable to turn their feet for- 

 wards. For this reason when they are on land they can only move 

 by wriggling on their abdomens aided by movements of the fore- 

 limbs. Phoca vitulina is common on the eastern coasts of Canada 

 and the United States of America. 



FIG. 340. The Patagonian Sea- Lion, Otariajubata. From Sclater. 



Order V. Cetacea. 



The order of Whales includes Mammals thoroughly adapted to 

 an aquatic life which pass all their life in the water. The great 

 majority of them are confined to the sea but a few are found in the 

 great rivers. In consequence of their mode of life they have under- 

 gone great changes of structure. Thus all external trace of the 

 hind-limbs has disappeared although a pair of small bones "repre- 

 senting the pelvic girdle are found embedded in the body. The 

 fore-limbs have become flippers. The fingers are bound together by 

 skin to their very tips and the number of joints (phalanges) in each 



