1904,] GREY SEAL AT VARIOUS STAGES OF GROWTH. 379 



of the boat, who saw that they were of equal size and as yet too 

 small to take to the water*. 



When the young Grey Seal is about 28 weeks old its pelage 

 begins to fade rapidly until, by the beginning of April, it is often 

 of a pale uniform straw-colour, with the back-spottings of undeter- 

 mined brown. At this stage it loses its second coat of hair, and 

 the third pelage commences to appear. This third pelage is more 

 pronounced in colour, and gives indications of the coat that the 

 Minimal will eventually assvime when adult, but the old hair often 

 changes to most exti'aordinary colours just before shedding. I 

 have seen immature skins of 26 weeks old with hair of russet, dark 

 brown, green, yellow, bkie-grey without spots, blue-grey heavily 

 spotted with black, neuti-al tint, and creamy white. The com- 

 monest type, however, of both males and females at this age is 

 pale grey back, turning darker towards the crown, yellow under 

 parts, muzzle and flippers, and with dark grey spots on the back. 

 Such a variety of tints is not to be fovmd in any animal except 

 Ursus arctos. On reaching the third pelage most of these strange 

 colour-tints vanish, and we find the young Grey Seal about 4 feet 

 6 inches in length, and 90 to 100 lbs. in weight, and evincing the 

 dappled, grey, black, or light-grey types of adult males and females 

 respectively, although not yet in perfect completeness. 



At one year old the young Gi-ey Seal, when in third pelage, has 

 gained the white under parts with black spots, but has gained 

 little in size after the fourth moult to the fourth pelage ; however, 

 when the types become still moi-e pronounced, they progress 

 quickly, so that at two yeai's the length of males is usu.ally about 

 5 feet 6 inches, and Aveight from 12 to 14 stone. In each suc- 

 ceeding year additional weight is put on. At three years males 

 measure 6 feet and over, and I do not think they are fully adult 

 until the fifth year, at which age they are capable of entering the 

 breeding-grounds and asserting their sex. Adults allow no 

 immatures except those of one year old to come close to the rocks 

 on which the females pup, and even these youngsters do not land 

 until the breeding-season is over. 



The following papers were read : — 



* The reader will at once put the question, " How do you know that the regular 

 black form, for it is a regular type of this Seal, is not always black from birth 

 like this melanic pup ? " It is certainly a natural supposition, for without doubt 

 this abnormal juvenile would have become a pure black adult ; but, on the other 

 hand, I must put forward the opinion that the black males must almost without ex- 

 ■ception have been once wJiite pups, for I have seen two skins of 5 and 8 months old 

 youngsters actually in a state of change from the light second youthful coat to the 

 black adult. Moreover, such a thing as a black baby B. gryplms of a few weeks old 

 has only once been heard of in the big haunts of the Grey Seal, where hundreds of 

 pups were annually slaughtered and where adult males of the black type occur about 

 •one in every 20 specimens. 



