18 E. LÖNNBERG. CONTRIBUTIONS TÖ THE FAUNA OF SOUTH GEORGIA. 



possible and the seal even went ashore near by. It might liave been play, he said, 

 but the case seemed so risky to him that he afterwards did not care to trust such 

 a frail craft in company with Leopard-seals. Sörling says that he never saw any 

 Leopard-seal attack the boat itself or try to ascend it, but one bit in his oar once. 

 It happened thus in Sörling's own words: »One day I stood sculling a flatbottomed 

 kind of a punt out on the bay. Suddenly a Leopard-seal came up and »blowed» 

 cpiite close to the stern. I was rather used to such company so I did not care much, 

 but soon he began to snap after the oar with which I sculled. I directed a blow 

 at him each time he snapped after, or bit in the oar but he did not care at all. In 

 such a way he pursued me all the way till I reached the shore when he turned back 

 and swam out in the bay again.» 



It might be as Dr. Andersson suggests that these maneuvres, at least partly, 

 indicate playfulness. but considering the powerful dentition of these seals and the 

 repeatedly stated fact that they not only feed on fish but also catch penguins and 

 other seabirds it appears safest not to allow too great liberties with such formidable 

 play-mates. 



The food of the Leopard-seal consists in fishes and penguins, and other birds. 

 Captain Larsen says, that even the latter are, at least in some instances, swallowed in 

 one bit. K. A. Andersson (8) observed once how such a seal had caught a Pygo- 

 scelis adelice. Like a cat it played with its prey, let it go and caught it again, but 

 finally it tore the penguin to pieces shaking it above the surface of the water and 

 swallowed one piece after the other. Von den Steinen (12) found once 2 diving 

 Petrels (Pelecanoides) in the stomach of a Leopard-seal. ' 



The female Leopard-seals are according to Sörli:ng's observations considerably 

 larger than the males. As a rule these seals do not exceed a maximum-length of 3,eo 

 m. according to the same authority. »12 feet» has also been recorded by others. Von 

 den Steinen (12) gives the measurements of three males to resp. 2,i5, 2,54 and 3,o m., 

 and of a pregnant female to 2,97 m. The average length he regards to be about 2,5 

 m. and the largest he measured »parallel dem Körper mit dem Alpstock 3, 70 Meter. » 

 Smaller specimens than 2 m. were not seen by the German Expedition 1882. 



The habits of propagation of the Leopard-seal are not yet fully knovvn. The 

 Swedish Expedition 1902 (8) killed several pregnant females of Leopard-seal which 

 in the month of May contained each a foetus of a length of 44—48 cm. Borchgre- 

 vtnch narrates (vide (6) p. 73) that he killed in September in Robertson Bay, South 

 Victoria land, a pregnant seal of this kind which had a foetus so large and full-grown 

 that it could be kept alive »on condensed milk»(!). 



Sörling says that he never found any newborn y oungs of Leopard-seal on 

 South Georgia. But he kiJJed several pregnant females which contained so large 

 foetuses that it seemed only to be a question of a day or two when they should 

 have been born. He also cut out foetuses which were very lively and lived for a 



1 Captain Lauskn had carried same geese vvitli him to South Georgia. One day the gander had a 

 strongly bleeding wound in the wing. A Leupard-sealwas suspected to have done this and it is not impro- 

 bable the more so as the geese from that day avoided the water mos t carefully. 



