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 Farnes, 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 male 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 fi-om 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 
Si 
