62 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



from which habit it is also often termed Bay Seal, ami, on the Scandinavian coast, Fjord Sea, 

 (Fjordskiil), and also Kock Seal (Steen-Kobbe). 1 



24. THE HARP SEAL. 



GENERAL, HISTORY AND NOMENCLATURE. The Harp Seal, Phoca (PagopMlm) grcenlandica 

 Fabricins, like the Crested Seal, presents characters, at least in the male sex, that readily attract 

 the attention of even the casual observer the one by its "saddle" or "harp-mark" of black on a 

 light ground, the other by its inflatable hood. Accordingly both were mentioned by various early 

 writers, but notably by Egede, Ellis, and Cranz, and the indications they gave of their existence 

 enter into the technical history of the species, forming as they do the basis of the first systematic 

 names. Erxlebeu described the species in 1777, under the name Phoca grcenhndica-, his descrip- 

 tion being founded mainly on information previously made public by Cranz. 



Few Seals vary so much in color with age as the Harp Seal. This was long since mentioned 

 by Crauz, who says : " All Seals vary annually their color till they are full grown, but no sort so 

 much as this [the Attersoak], and the Greenlanders vary its name according to its age. They call 

 the foetus iblau; in this state these are white and wooly, whereas the other sorts are smooth and 

 coloured. In the 1st year 't is called Attaralc, and 't is a cream-colour. In the 2d year Atteitaiak 

 then 'tis gray. In the 3d Aglektok, painted. In the 4th Milaktok, and in the 5th year Attarsoak. 

 Then it wears its half-moon, the signal of maturity." 



Dr. Rink states that at the present day the Greenlanders, as well as the Europeans, divide the 

 "Saddle-backs" into four or five different classes according to their age, but that in familial- 

 language they only distinguish by different names the full-grown animals from the half-grown 

 ones, the latter being called " Bluesides." 



The young, when first born, are called by the Newfoundland sealers "White-coats"; later, 

 during the first molt, "Ragged-jackets"; when they have attained the black cresceutic marks 

 they are termed "Harps," or " Saddlers," and also "Breeding Harps"; the yearlings and two-year- 

 olds arc called "Young Harps" or "Turning- Harps/' and also "Bedlimers" (or "Bellamers," also 

 spelled "Bedlamers"). The older and some recent writers state that the mature pattern of 

 coloration is not attained till the fifth year, while Jukes, Brown, Carroll, and others state that it is 

 acquired in the third or fourth year. There is also a diversity of statement respecting the sexual 

 differences of color in the adults, some writers affirming that the sexes are alike, while others state 

 that the female is without the harp-mark, or has the dark markings of the male only faintly indi- 

 cated. Mr. Carroll says: " The reason why they are called Harp Seals, or 'Saddlers,' is, the male 

 Seal, as well as the female, has a dark stripe on each side from the shoulders to the tail, leaving a 

 muddy white stripe down the back. The male Harp Seal is very black about the head as well as 

 under the throat. . . . The female Harp is of a rusty gray about the head and white under 

 the throat." Both Jukes and Reeks, however, refer to the absence of the harp-mark in the female. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. Although the Harp Seal has a circumpolar distribution, it 



1 Seals appear to be increasing in numbers in Massachusetts Bay. We observed them frequently near Race Point, 

 I'rovincetown, in 1879, where they sometimes get into the gill-nets set foi mackerel. At Banistable they have become 

 very numerous and troubleeoi' e of late. They are often shot or taken in the weirs at Barustable and Yarmouth, and 

 are accused of seriously depleting the fisheries in this locality, as well as at Plymouth, whore they have been preserved 

 for a number of years. Crossing the entrance to Barngtable Harbor at sunset November 10, 1 counted eight or ten 

 heads above the surface. The number here is estimated at sixty-five or seventy, and there are probably not less tbau 

 three hundred in the bay. They are resident, disappearing for a time in the spring and returning accompanied by 

 their young, about one-quarter a large as their parents, in April or May. Capt. Gideon Bowley, of Provincotown, 

 tells me that they feed on "sun squalls," or medusie, and that he has seen them "boil 'em up," or vomit them, when 

 caught. G. BROWN GOODK. 



