EARLESS SEALS. 



MS 



in general, but a single root each ; and in the males of both the nose is furnished 

 with an appendage which can he inflated at will. Moreover, the first and fifth 

 toes of the hind-feet are considerably longer than the three middle ones, and are 

 furnished with long lobes projecting in advance of the rudimentary claws, or the 

 position which these should occupy. 



In the crested seal the appendage on the nose takes the form of a large sac, 

 which is in communication with the nostrils, and when inflated covers the head as 

 far back as the eye ; but the female has no trace of this appendage, which docs not 

 make its appearance in the male till a considerable time after birth. The hind-feet 

 of this species are provided with small claws; and the last cheek-tooth generally 

 has two roots. The ground-colour of the fur is bluish black, becoming lighter on 

 the flanks and under-parts, and marked with small irregular whitish spots; the 

 head and limbs being uniformly black. Sometimes, however, the ground-colour is 

 light greyish white, varied with dark brown or blackish spots. The woolly fur of 

 the newly - bom young is pure white. In size, full - grown males of this seal 

 vary from 7| to 8 feet in total length; females measuring about 7 feet. The 

 skull is very short and bi - oad ; and the bony partition dividing the nostrils 

 is produced above the level of their margin in order to support the sac. This 

 seal is restricted to the colder regions of the North Atlantic and certain 

 portions of the Arctic Sea ; its range extending from Greenland eastwards to 

 Spitzbergen, and thence along the northern coast of Europe. Southwards these 

 seals are but seldom found below Norway on the one side, and Newfoundland 

 on the other. 



In habits the crested seal is essentially migratory and pelagic, 

 travelling south in winter, and always preferring the drift-ice of the 

 open sea to the neighbourhood of land ; indeed, it very seldom, if ever, resorts to 

 the shores or even to outlying rocks. Compared with the Greenland seal, the 

 present species is a comparatively rare one, and is nowhere met with in large 

 numbers, although apparently more numerous in the Gulf of St. Lawrence than in 

 most of its haunts. Although at times the sexes are said to live apart, they usually 

 associate together in family parties or small herds during the breeding-season, 

 previous to which the males engage in fierce contests for the possession of the 

 females. While these fights are going on, the males utter cries which may be 

 heard at the distance of several miles. The young are bom on the ice, far away 

 from land, during March ; and in defence of their offspring both parents will lose 

 their own lives rather than escape by flight. In disposition the crested seal is 

 much fiercer and bolder than any of the other members of the family ; and it will 

 not unfrequently turn upon its aggressor, so that its pursuit in the frail kayaks, or 

 canoes, of the Eskimo is attended with a considerable share of danger, the pro- 

 tection afforded to the head by the inflated sac rendering the males difficult 

 to kill in the ordinary manner by means of clubs. What is the precise use 

 of the appendage in question has not yet been fully determined; but from its 

 presence in the males only it may be inferred to be a sexual feature analogous to 

 the antlers of the deer. It was estimated some years ago that the total number of 

 these seals annually killed in Greenland did not exceed 3000. In addition to fish, 

 the crested seal feeds largely upon cuttles and squids. 



VOL. II. — io 



