﻿MAMMALIA. 
  

  

  55 
  

  

  Seals 
  were 
  then 
  much 
  more 
  abundant 
  than 
  they 
  are 
  now 
  ; 
  but 
  

   nothing 
  is 
  said 
  by 
  the 
  writer 
  as 
  to 
  what 
  the 
  species 
  was, 
  or 
  

   whether 
  there 
  were 
  more 
  than 
  one. 
  

  

  In 
  Horn's 
  Notes 
  on 
  the 
  Mammalia 
  of 
  Buchan 
  (1882) 
  it 
  said 
  

   that 
  " 
  several 
  species 
  of 
  Seals 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  at 
  different 
  

   times 
  on 
  this 
  coast." 
  This 
  does 
  not 
  help 
  us 
  much. 
  In 
  the 
  

   Black 
  Book 
  of 
  Kincardineshire 
  (1879), 
  p. 
  117, 
  it 
  is 
  stated 
  

   that 
  " 
  Seals 
  are 
  now 
  becoming 
  scarce, 
  owing, 
  apparently, 
  to 
  

   the 
  bag 
  nets 
  which 
  destroy 
  them." 
  

  

  It 
  seems 
  strange, 
  indeed, 
  that 
  for 
  the 
  sea-coast 
  parishes 
  of 
  

   "Dee" 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  mention 
  of 
  Seals 
  in 
  the 
  0. 
  S. 
  A., 
  except 
  

   for 
  that 
  of 
  Peterhead 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  it 
  the 
  animal 
  is 
  merely 
  

   mentioned 
  by 
  name. 
  In 
  the 
  N. 
  S. 
  A. 
  it 
  is 
  recorded 
  for 
  

   the 
  parish 
  of 
  Crimond 
  ; 
  but, 
  again, 
  the 
  exact 
  species 
  

   is 
  not 
  given. 
  Further, 
  in 
  Arbuthnot's 
  Account 
  of 
  Peter- 
  

   head 
  a 
  list 
  of 
  fishes 
  is 
  given, 
  which 
  includes 
  Whale, 
  Porpoise, 
  

   and 
  Grampus 
  ! 
  In 
  such 
  a 
  medley 
  one 
  would 
  expect 
  the 
  Seal 
  

   to 
  find 
  a 
  place, 
  especially 
  since 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  doubt 
  that 
  

   Seals 
  were 
  common 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  he 
  wrote. 
  

  

  Although 
  Seals 
  have 
  diminished 
  much 
  in 
  numbers 
  of 
  late 
  

   years, 
  P. 
  vitulina 
  is 
  every 
  now 
  and 
  again 
  met 
  with, 
  and 
  

   several 
  have 
  passed 
  through 
  my 
  hands. 
  A 
  small 
  one, 
  about 
  

   27 
  inches 
  long, 
  was 
  cast 
  on 
  Aberdeen 
  sands 
  in 
  December, 
  

   1893. 
  Another, 
  some 
  three 
  feet 
  long, 
  was 
  taken 
  at 
  the 
  

   entrance 
  to 
  Aberdeen 
  Harbour 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  ; 
  while 
  a 
  

   third, 
  three 
  feet 
  three 
  inches 
  long, 
  was 
  seen 
  within 
  the 
  

   " 
  Locks 
  " 
  of 
  Aberdeen 
  Harbour, 
  where 
  it 
  played 
  about 
  for 
  

   some 
  ten 
  days 
  ; 
  but 
  at 
  last 
  it 
  was 
  noticed 
  lying 
  asleep 
  on 
  one 
  

   of 
  the 
  buoys, 
  and 
  was 
  cautiously 
  approached 
  by 
  boat, 
  and 
  

   its 
  skull 
  smashed 
  to 
  pieces 
  as 
  it 
  lay. 
  

  

  Phoca 
  hispida, 
  Schreber. 
  Ringed 
  Seal. 
  

  

  This 
  pretty 
  little 
  animal 
  has 
  been 
  twice 
  obtained 
  on 
  the 
  

   coast 
  of 
  Aberdeenshire 
  — 
  one 
  killed 
  at 
  Collieston 
  in 
  August, 
  

   1897, 
  and 
  the 
  -other 
  in 
  Aberdeen 
  Bay 
  in 
  1901. 
  Both 
  were 
  

   caught 
  in 
  salmon 
  nets, 
  and 
  passed 
  through 
  my 
  hands. 
  When 
  

   obtained, 
  I 
  was 
  doubtful 
  to 
  what 
  species 
  they 
  should 
  be 
  

   referred 
  ; 
  but 
  on 
  showing 
  the 
  skulls 
  to 
  Professor 
  D'Arcy 
  

   Thomson, 
  of 
  Dundee, 
  that 
  gentleman 
  at 
  once 
  pronounced 
  

   them 
  to 
  be 
  those 
  of 
  P. 
  hisjnda. 
  The 
  skull 
  and 
  dentition 
  

   of 
  this 
  species 
  are 
  so 
  characteristic, 
  and 
  differ 
  so 
  widely 
  from 
  

  

  