106 
MAMMALIA, 
along in a sombre sky, the great black clouds which predict 
torrents of rain. Then it is that they leave the sea in crowds, and 
come and play about on the shore, in the midst of the fury of the 
elements. They are at home in the tempest, it is in these crises 
of nature that they give full play to all their faculties, and to 
all the activity of which they are capable. When the weather is 
fine they fall asleep, and resign themselves lazily to the dolce far 
niente. 
Seals feed principally on fishes, which they catch cleverly ; to 
Fig. 27.— Seals ( Phoca vitulince). 
these some of them add Mollusks, Crustaceans, and, when they 
have the chance, some say aquatic birds. 
Some grave authors affirm that it is their custom, before they 
take to the water, to swallow a quantity of pebbles, which serve 
them as ballast, as in a ship ; this excess of weight they disgorge 
when they come on shore. If this is not true, it is at least a happy 
thought : se non e vero, e bene trovato. [At all events, such pebbles 
are found in the stomach of the Walrus.] 
it is not astonishing that in this position, and seen from a distance, 
