Sub-Family CYSTOPHORIN^. 

 Genus Cystophora. 



THE HOODED SEAL 



Cystophora cristata, Erxleben. 

 Plate i6. 



The Hooded Seal, also known as the Crested Seal and Bladder- 

 nose, measures about 8 feet in length. The drawing of this species, 

 shown in the lower part of the Plate, was taken from a specimen in 

 the Royal Scottish Museum. 



The ground colour of the body in this example is a dark grey, 

 blotched and marbled with black, the face and muzzle are also black. 



Immature examples are silvery grey above and yellowish white 

 below. The strange inflation on the upper parts of the face in the 

 adult males forms a kind of bag or sac which can be filled with air 

 when the animal is angry or excited, or relaxed when at rest. 



This migrating Seal inhabits the Arctic Ocean from Greenland to 

 Northern Europe, ranges as far north as Baffin's Bay, and also frequents 

 the American coast. 



In England the first example was taken on the River Orwell, 

 Suffolk, in June 1847, while another was captured alive at Frodsham, 

 Cheshire, in February 1873. 



The records for Scotland are : one stoned to death by some boys 

 on a rock near St. Andrews in July 1872, one shot in OUerswith Bay, 

 Sanday, Orkneys, December 1890, another obtained on Benbecula in 



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