«8 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 



fished or basked in th$ sunshine on the rocks. 

 Here they appeared thoroughly to enjoy the 

 quiet time after the rough and tumble of the 

 recent storm. 



The quantity of fish that a seal devours is 

 enormous. Before the war Scandinavian coun- 

 tries offered rewards for their destruction, and 

 very large numbers were killed annually. Like 

 the otter, the seal hunts his fish systematically. 

 Many years ago I once watched a young seal 

 fishing in a large rock pool. Slowly he worked 

 his way through each mass of seaweed. As soon 

 as a fish was flushed he was after it like a flash, 

 caught it, and then came to the surface and 

 devoured his prey. In addition to fish, seal eat 

 crabs and other crustaceans. 



The common seal is a small animal, seldom 

 exceeding five feet in length. It becomes ex- 

 tremely tame in captivity. Doubtless many of 

 my readers have seen Captain Woodward's per- 

 forming sea-lions. The part of the clown in 

 the performance was taken by a common seal. 

 When Captain Woodward went to South Africa 

 with his troupe, the understudy to the clown, an 

 .animal about four feet in length, took up his 

 abode at the Zoological Gardens. From London 



