EARED SEALS. 
123 
Habits. 
of skin projecting in advance of the toes of the hind-flippers are much less elongated. 
The Southern fur-seals are also, as a rule, decidedly greyer in colour than their 
northern cousin. There is still some uncertainty as to the number of species 
belonging to this group, and their resemblance to one another is so close that it 
requires an expert to distinguish between them. 
south American The South American, or Falkland Island fur-seal (0. australis) 
Fur-seals, inhabits the Galapagos Islands, and the shores and islands of South 
America southwards from Chili on the western, and from the Rio de la Plata on the 
eastern side; being more numerous on the Falkland and South Shetland Islands 
than on the continent itself. The males attain a length of from 6 to 7 feet, while 
the females average about 5 feet; the disproportion between the sexes being thus 
much less than in the northern sea-bear. The colour of the fur is distinctly grey. 
The habits of this species seem to be very similar to those of its 
northern cousin; the old males arriving on the Falklands before the 
females, and similar contests taking place for the possession of the latter, which 
arrive in December. The cubs are born during the same month, and are able to 
swim well by February. The young males remain at sea during the greater part 
of the summer, not landing till February or March. They sojourn on land till the 
latter part of April, when they again take to the water; but towards the end of 
June they once more visit the shore for several weeks, remaining partly on land 
and partly in the sea. When Weddell visited the South Shetlands during his 
voyage, lasting from 1818 to 1821, these seals were very numerous, and had so 
little fear of man that numbers of them were killed and skinned without disturbing 
the remainder of the party. Moseley, during the voyage of the Challenger, found, 
as already mentioned, these seals still fairly numerous on Kerguelen’s Land, although, 
from the reckless way in which they were slaughtered, they appeared in imminent 
danger of total extermination. Like the sea-lions of the same regions, the southern 
fur-seals prey at times upon penguins. 
The Cape fur-seal (0. pusilla) is a very well-marked species, 
characterised by the straight profile of the head, the overhanging 
and sharply-pointed muzzle, the relatively long ears, and the extreme length of the 
numerous bristles depending from the upper lip. A living example, formerly 
exhibited in the London Zoological Society’s Gardens, had a whitish red fur 
grizzled with blackish hairs, while the under-parts were of a reddish brown colour. 
This seal appears to be confined to South Africa, inhabiting the small islands round 
the Cape of Good Hope, as well as others some forty miles distant from Port 
Elizabeth. It probably also once inhabited Tristan da Cunha. It is still fairly 
common, but its fur is of comparatively little value, owing to the shortness of the 
hair, although that of the young animals is longer. Some years ago, from 70,000 
to 80,000 skins were annually imported from the Cape into London, but the number 
is now much reduced. In Algoa Bay as many as from 200 to 300 of these seals 
have been taken during a single night. 
New Zealand There has been much uncertainty with regard to the fur-seals 
Fur-seal. G f the Australian seas, but it now appears that there is but one 
species, namely, the New Zealand fur-seal (0. forsteri), of which the so-called 
cinereous fur-seal (0. cinerea), according to Mr. H. O. Forbes, is the female. This 
Cape Fur-Seal. 
