39 
low Macaw ( Ara chloroptera ), and the Blue and Yellow 
Macaw ( Ara ararauna). 
Nos. 8 and 9.—THE LARGE SEAL 
PONDS. 
The central and lower ponds are tenanted by a number of 
Gillespie’s Hair Seals (, Zalophus gillespii ). This species 
is found in large numbers in the lower part of the North Pacific 
Ocean; those which are in the Garden having been captured 
at the San Miguel Islands, off the coast of California, not far 
from Santa Barbara; they are rarely seen as far up as San 
Francisco, and are found in the waters of the same latitude 
on the Asiatic side of the Pacific. 
The differences between this species and the Northern Sea 
Lion (. Eumetopias stelleri ), numbers of which afford great 
amusement to visitors to Seal Rock, in the bay of San Fran¬ 
cisco, are mainly in size, the males of the latter growing much 
larger, and also in the development of the skull and teeth. 
The male Hair Seal, when adult, weighs three or four times 
as much as the female, and is provided with enormous canine 
teeth, with which they fight terrible battles at the season of 
rutting, often injuring each other severely ; they are of a sav¬ 
age and dangerous disposition and are ugly antagonists even 
to man. 
They swim and float with great address, sleeping on the 
surface of the water; they remain at sea during eight or nine 
months of the year, coming out on shore in vast numbers at 
the season of breeding, where they remain in some cases as 
much as three months without food or water. On land they 
progress with more ease than is common with other seals, by 
a gait somewhat like the canter of a horse ; they climb rocks 
easily, and throw themselves from a height of ten or fifteen 
feet into the water or on the rocks without damage,—their 
tough skins and a layer of fat several inches thick, which lies 
immediately beneath, protecting them from injury. They 
are representatives of the family of Eared Seals ( Otaridce ), 
all of which are of large size, and are readily distinguished 
by the possession of an external ear, which is never more 
than an inch and a half long and is rolled tightly in the shape 
of a cone. There are seven or eight species of these seals, 
