Or.DER V. THE CARNIVORA. 207 



during the summer months, and ascends and descends the mouths of its 

 rivers with tlie tide in quest of prey. It is also found on the coasts of Ice- 

 land, and within the polar circle at Spitzbergen. Sometimes it is borne, 

 probably by the ice, far from its usual haunts, as a young one was captured 

 en the coast of IS^ormandy and taken to Paris. 



AVe are indebted to Pallas for the following remarks on this species : 

 " There are many kinds of seals in the Frozen Ocean, and this species, known 

 among the Samoyedes as the Hare of the iSea, differs wholly from the 

 common kind. Tiie j'oung hares of the sea, whose skins I have procured, 

 arc white as snow, and shining like silver. Their hair is longer than that 

 of other seals, so that if the head and feet were removed, the skin might be 

 mistaken for that of a young sea-bear. It is in spring that the Samoyedes 

 usually' hunt these animals, on their leaving the water, near the mouths of 

 the Lina and other rivers, through those holes in the ice which the seals 

 keep open for the purpose of respiration. Tiiey place a number of 

 planks nailed together in the neighborhood of these holes, and fix a rope to 

 them. They then conceal themselves behind masses of ice, and soon as the 

 seals have left the deep, and lie down to bask in the sun, they pull the 

 planks over the hole by means of the rope, and so prevent their return. 

 They then easily despatch them." 



The young specimen taken on the French coast was two feet nine inches 

 in length, and of a yellowish-gray color. We find in the Diet. iVlIiH. 

 JVrtt. the following very interesting account of it : " It was easily tamed. 

 "When it was teased it puffed like a cat, and when much irritated it barked 

 feelily. It never attempted to liite in self-defence, ])ut scratched with its 

 nails. It never ate except when vmder water ; its nourishment was the fish 

 of the ocean, and could never be made to take those of fresh water. He 

 was peculiarly attached to the old woman who had care of him. He soon 

 came to recognize her at the greatest distance it was possible for him to espy 

 her ; he kept his eye on her so long as she was in sight, and ran to her as 

 soon as she approached his enclosure. If he was free when his food was 

 being brought to him, he ran and earnestly solicited it by the motions of his 

 head, and still more by the expression of his countenance." 



JPhoca Blcolor. — The Pied Seal. Although this seal does not belong 

 to the genus CaJocephalus, we introduce it here as the only convenient place 

 for considering it. 3Ir. Jenyns asserts that it is merely a variety of the 

 common seal, while on the other hand the distinguished Pennant is certain 

 that it has the characters of a distinct species. The accounts of it are very 

 meagre, and we will dismiss it with the remark that the fore part of the 

 head, in the one ol)served by Pennant, was black, whilst the hind part of the 

 head and the throat were white ; beneath each fore leg there was a spot of the 



