THE HOOD-CAP SEAL. 



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the walrus than the seal, though its canine teeth are not 

 prolonged into tusks. A very remarkable species is the 

 Crested or Hood-cap Seal (Otaria Falklandica), distin- 

 guished by the possession of a characteristic organ, a 

 muscular and membranous pouch, not unlike a monk's 

 hood, but divided internally into two compartments by 



THE CRESTED OR HOODED SEAL. 



the prolongation of the cartilaginous " septum " of the 

 nose. By closing its nostrils the animal can inflate this 

 pouch, like a bladder, so that it is distended over the 

 skull, and swollen to a height of six or seven inches. 

 The hooded seal chiefly inhabits the vast ice-fields 



