164 DR WILLIAM S. BRUCE ON 



of 50 Ibs. for the stomach and contents of one of these Weddell Seals shows the heavy 

 meal, which usually consist of fish (mostly Notothenia coriiceps), that seals can digest. 



Stenorhynchus leptonyx (the Sea-leopard). 



Only seven Sea-leopards were secured, three males and four females, the longest of 

 which was a female measuring 155 inches. On the Balsena in 1892-93 I obtained one 

 measuring 162 inches. Two males of average size, 128 and 134 inches, scaled respec- 

 tively GOG and 630 Ibs. They are thus by measurement longer and lighter animals 

 than the Weddell Seals, and they give this appearance. They are extremely lithe in 

 their movements, jumping great distances out of the water. They catch swift penguins 

 in the water. On the Balsena I frequently found stones in their stomachs, which are, I 

 believe, derived from the stones in stomachs of the penguins they devour. 



Dr PIRIE during the voyage of the Scotia found sand in their stomachs, which is 

 probably derived from the same source. In four of the specimens obtained penguin 

 feathers and remains were found, and on one occasion a Sea-leopard was seen in Scotia 

 Bay to catch a penguin and take it under water. The penguin undoubtedly forms the 

 staple diet of these animals, and the size and nature of the teeth is indicative of such 

 diet. Only on one occasion did we see a young Sea-leopard, and this was early in 

 November in Brown's Bay, off Point Thomson, when Mr WILTON, Dr PIRIE, and I tried 

 to secure it, but failed on account of the rotten state of the ice. 



Lobodon carcinophaga (the Crab-eating or White Antarctic Seal). 



We only obtained five specimens of the Crab-eating Seal during the voyage of the 

 Scotia, although many of these were seen on the voyage southward in 1903 at a time 

 when we were unable to secure them. In 1892-93 the Dundee whalers secured a great 

 number of these Lobodons, and 1 have seen as many as forty on a single piece of ice. 

 This is probably the smallest of the four species of Antarctic Seals, although the Ross 

 Seal is of very similar dimensions. One very old male that we secured weighed 494 Ibs., 

 but the other three were very much smaller and lighter than this animal. This animal 

 is one of the specimens that I have presented to the Royal Scottish Museum. The skin 

 of one of these animals was very badly scarred, and it is uncertain what is the cause 

 of these scars. They may possibly be due to the attacks of a grampus, but we have 

 no definite evidence of this. We had little evidence on the Scotia to tell us what was 

 the food of these Lobodons, but on the Kalxna I found the remains of fish and 

 crustaceans in their stomachs. 



Ommatophoca rossi (the Ross Seal). 



This is the rarest seal in the world, and the Scotia naturalists only obtained two 

 specimens of it, one male and one female, the skins of which have been deposited in the 

 Royal Scottish Museum, and the skeletons in the Anatomical Museum of the University 



(ROY. soc. EDIN. TRANS., VOL. XLIX., 568.) 



