﻿54 
  

  

  THE 
  VERTEBEATE 
  FAUNA 
  OF 
  "DEE." 
  

  

  was 
  sent 
  to 
  me. 
  One 
  was 
  taken 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Thow, 
  keeper, 
  

   Crathes, 
  in 
  1881. 
  In 
  1885, 
  one 
  was 
  got 
  in 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  Birse. 
  

   In 
  1889, 
  one 
  was 
  obtained 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  of 
  Aboyne, 
  

   and 
  another 
  in 
  1891. 
  One 
  was 
  killed 
  in 
  Glenmuick 
  in 
  1890, 
  

   which 
  was 
  forwarded 
  to 
  me. 
  One 
  was 
  killed 
  at 
  Cragievar 
  in 
  

   1892 
  ; 
  and 
  a 
  young 
  one 
  was 
  sent 
  to 
  me 
  from 
  Braemar 
  in 
  1894. 
  

   In 
  the 
  same 
  year 
  a 
  Badger 
  was 
  seen 
  lying 
  dead 
  upon 
  the 
  

   Murcar 
  Links 
  by 
  Mr. 
  James 
  Fraser. 
  A 
  mature 
  female 
  was 
  

   sent 
  to 
  the 
  writer 
  from 
  Braemar, 
  May 
  3rd, 
  1895, 
  and 
  another 
  

   in 
  1897. 
  One 
  was 
  killed 
  on 
  the 
  Bin 
  Hill, 
  Himtly, 
  in 
  the 
  

   autumn 
  of 
  1898, 
  as 
  I 
  am 
  informed 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Wilson, 
  Huntly. 
  

  

  Sub-Order 
  PINNIPEDIA. 
  

   Family 
  PHOCID.E. 
  

   Genus 
  PHOCA. 
  

   Phoca 
  vitulina, 
  Linn. 
  Common 
  Seal. 
  "Selch." 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  N. 
  S. 
  A. 
  of 
  Kincardineshire 
  (1843), 
  p. 
  217, 
  it 
  is 
  

   said 
  : 
  " 
  In 
  the 
  recollection 
  of 
  persons 
  not 
  yet 
  very 
  old, 
  

   Seals 
  were 
  numerous 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Dunnottar. 
  They 
  

   were 
  then 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  herds 
  basking 
  on 
  the 
  rocks 
  or 
  

   sporting 
  in 
  the 
  bays; 
  and 
  the 
  hunting 
  of 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  caves 
  

   was 
  practised 
  both 
  for 
  amusement 
  and 
  profit. 
  Now 
  they 
  

   have 
  nearly 
  abandoned 
  the 
  caves 
  to 
  which 
  they 
  resorted 
  as 
  

   their 
  breeding 
  places, 
  and 
  only 
  a 
  solitary 
  one 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  

   occasionally 
  skulking 
  for 
  prey 
  at 
  the 
  foot 
  of 
  the 
  rocks." 
  

  

  Going 
  back 
  to 
  1804, 
  we 
  find 
  Colonel 
  Thornton, 
  in 
  his 
  

   Sporting 
  Tour 
  through 
  the 
  Northern 
  Parts 
  of 
  England 
  and 
  

   Greater 
  Part 
  of 
  the 
  Highlands 
  of 
  Scotland, 
  while 
  speaking 
  of 
  

   the 
  East 
  Coast 
  of 
  Scotland, 
  saying: 
  "In 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  

   November 
  numbers 
  of 
  Seals 
  are 
  taken 
  in 
  the 
  vast 
  caverns 
  

   that 
  open 
  into 
  the 
  sea 
  and 
  run 
  some 
  hundred 
  yards 
  under 
  the 
  

   ground. 
  Their 
  entrance 
  is 
  narrow, 
  their 
  inside 
  lofty 
  and 
  

   spacious. 
  The 
  Seal 
  hunters 
  enter 
  these 
  in 
  small 
  boats 
  with 
  

   torches, 
  which 
  they 
  light 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  they 
  land, 
  and 
  these, 
  with 
  

   loud 
  shouts, 
  alarm 
  the 
  animals, 
  which 
  they 
  kill 
  with 
  clubs 
  as 
  

   they 
  attempt 
  to 
  pass. 
  This 
  is 
  a 
  hazardous 
  employment, 
  for, 
  

   should 
  the 
  wind 
  blow 
  hard 
  from 
  the 
  sea, 
  these 
  adventurers 
  

   are 
  inevitably 
  lost." 
  From 
  the 
  foregoing 
  we 
  must 
  infer 
  that 
  

  

  