BRITISH MAMMALS 



In England this Seal is thinly distributed on the western side and 

 scarcely known among the Scilly Islands, where the Grey Seal is 

 not uncommon. On the east coast, some haunt the neighbourhood of 

 the Fames, and visit the shores of Durham, Yorkshire, and Lincolnshire, 

 but are rare south of the Wash. In days gone by they were numerous 

 about the sand-banks at the mouth of the Tees. 



Where salmon rivers enter the sea on the east coast of Scotland the 

 Common Seal may be seen in large numbers during the summer months, 

 but the chief haunts of this animal in the north are the Hebrides, 

 Orkneys, and Shetlands, where it is abundant. According to Mr. Millais, 

 in the work already quoted (vol. i. p. 310), "the majority of those 

 frequenting the east coast of Scotland are migratory, while those on 

 the west are, except for local movements, stationary." 



Early in June the female gives birth to a single young one, which, 

 unlike the pup of the Grey Seal, takes to the water almost immediately. 

 In the opinion of Mr. Millais the first white woolly coat of the baby 

 Common Seal must be shed before birth, as there is no evidence of any 

 ever having been observed in the water except in their second pelage. 



The Common Seal, owing to the constant persecution it receives, 

 becomes extremely wary as it gains experience, and the old ihale before 

 lying up on shore for a siesta will always first carefully survey his 

 surroundings. 



One curious side of his character has been referred to by Mr. Millais, 

 who says (vol. i. p. 317): "The look-out is often the Seal that has 

 most recently emerged from the ocean and is still wet. From this we 

 may deduce a certain subtle reasoning and recognition of its own limi- 

 tations on the part of the animal, for only during the short time after 

 coming from the sea is the Seal keenly alive to the possibilities of 

 impending danger. As his coat dries he becomes too sleepy to trouble 



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