20 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



of the fishermen say they have no grievance against the Seals 

 . . . the effect of offering such a large reward will simply be that 

 every ' Tom, Dick, and Harry ' with a gun will go out shooting 

 Seals. ... A large proportion of the heads produced are 

 probably females and newly born young, which seems a great 

 shame. These no doubt represent but a small proportion of 

 those wounded." 



With all my heart I hope the energetic Inspector will see 

 the right thing done, and if it be possible that the evidence 

 forthcoming should be in favour of these innocent animals, they 

 will not be unduly harassed ; and if it be proved necessary that 

 a reduction in number be imperative, that vigilance will be 

 exercised in doing the butchering "on the most approved modern 

 methods " possible. 



There is a significant remark made in the Inspector's March 

 Eeport respecting a nose sent in ; the particulars coming in with 

 it were as follow : " The Seal I caught was a white, long- 

 haired one ; female." And the Inspector himself remarks: — 

 " On January 17th, on passing Freeman's Channel, I observed 

 a score of Seals on the Roger Sand, three or four of which 

 appeared quite white alongside the others. When on the sands 

 on March 14th ... I then noticed that three or four of the Seals 

 had long, rough hair, in colour a dirty white. They were slower 

 than the others in reaching the water." 



Now, as it is well known that the young of the Grey Seal 

 {Halichccrus gryphus) are born white, and my somewhat limited 

 experience of this species has led me to believe it less nimble 

 out of the water than the commoner animal, one might suspect 

 that the Grey Seal does more than occasionally occur in com- 

 pany with Phoca. A young female was killed on Breydon, 

 November 28th, 1882 ; and in the 'Field,' 1904, some notes on 

 this species by Mr. T. Southwell appeared. Herein he remarked 

 that even young had been born, but that the conditions did not 

 appear suitable to their long survival. He says: — "Although 

 these sandbanks may form admirable nurseries for the numerous 

 herds of P. vitulina which frequent them, no young Grey Seals 

 deposited where the banks are covered by every tide can possibly 

 survive, and they must . . . perish by drowning" (vide ' Nature 

 in Eastern Norfolk,' pp. 319-320). 



