EARLESS SEALS. 
145 
in general, but a single root each; and in the males of both the nose is furnished 
with an appendage which can be inflated at will. Moreover, the first and fifth 
toes of the hind-feet are considerably longer than the three middle ones, and are 
furnished with long lobes projecting in advance of the rudimentary claws, or the 
position which these should occupy. 
In the crested seal the appendage on the nose takes the form of a large sac, 
which is in communication with the nostrils, and when inflated covers the head as 
far back as the eye ; but the female has no trace of this appendage, which does not 
make its appearance in the male till a considerable time after birth. The hind-feet 
of this species are provided with small claws; and the last cheek-tooth generally 
has two roots. The ground-colour of the fur is bluish black, becoming lighter on 
the flanks and under-parts, and marked with small irregular whitish spots; the 
head and limbs being uniformly black. Sometimes, however, the ground-colour is 
light greyish white, varied with dark brown or blackish spots. The woolly fur of 
the newly - born young is pure white. In size, full - grown males of this seal 
vary from 7| to 8 feet in total length; females measuring about 7 feet. The 
skull is very short and broad; and the bony partition dividing the nostrils 
is produced above the level of their margin in order to support the sac. This 
seal is restricted to the colder regions of the North Atlantic and certain 
portions of the Arctic Sea; its range extending from Greenland eastwards to 
Spitzbergen, and thence along the northern coast of Europe. Southwards these 
seals are but seldom found below Norway on the one side, and Newfoundland 
on the other. 
Habits I n habits the crested seal is essentially migratory and pelagic, 
travelling south in winter, and always preferring the drift-ice of the 
open sea to the neighbourhood of land; indeed, it very seldom, if ever, resorts to 
the shores or even to outlying rocks. Compared with the Greenland seal, the 
present species is a comparatively rare one, and is nowhere met with in large 
numbers, although apparently more numerous in the Gulf of St. Lawrence than in 
most of its haunts. Although at times the sexes are said to live apart, they usually 
associate together in family parties or small herds during the breeding-season, 
previous to which the males engage in fierce contests for the possession of the 
females. While these fights are going on, the males utter cries which may be 
heard at the distance of several miles. The young are born on the ice, far away 
from land, during March; and in defence of their offspring both parents will lose 
their own lives rather than escape by flight. In disposition the crested seal is 
much fiercer and bolder than any of the other members of the family; and it will 
not unfrequently turn upon its aggressor, so that its pursuit in the frail kayaks, or 
•canoes, of the Eskimo is attended with a considerable share of danger, the pro¬ 
tection afforded to the head by the inflated sac rendering the males difficult 
to kill in the ordinary manner by means of clubs. What is the precise use 
of the appendage in question has not yet been fully determined; but from its 
presence in the males only it may be inferred to be a sexual feature analogous to 
the antlers of the deer. It was estimated some years ago that the total number of 
these seals annually killed in Greenland did not exceed 3000. In addition to fish, 
the crested seal feeds largely upon cuttles and squids. 
VOL. II.— io 
