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Show 1904.] GREY SEAL AT VARIOUS STAGES OF GROWTH. 375 has caused our want of knowledge. Some years ago, when I began to study the Seals inhabiting our coasts, I saw how necessary it was to obtain a large series of skins before expressing any opinion; but now, after several expeditions to nearly all the British haunts of this animal, and the examination of over a hundred and fifty skins, I am able to come to some definite conclusions with regard to the pelage and gradual life-growth. In the first place, there is no mammal, not subject to a very wide distribution, such as Ursus arctos, which evinces so many types of pelage and intermediate forms, and this is all the more remarkable because all these various colourings and modulations may be found in a single colony of animals inhabiting one group of rocks. These types are as follows :- Adult Males. Four distinct types are found, as well as every intermediate form between them, that is, specimens may occur which are composite of two, three, or even four types. 1. The Black Male.-Hair all over body very dark ash-grey and sometimes jet-black. Commencing at the angle of the jaw and extending round sides of neck are certain bands of hah- usually darker than the rest of the pelage and often curling *. In this type the under parts are generally slightly lighter, with a brownish tinge, and whole crown of the head light grey. However, I have seen two complete melanic forms which were quite black all over. The black type is somewhat rare, and occurs about one in twenty individuals. 2. The Light Grey Male.-This form usually has dun-coloured under parts and flipper-pits. All the upper portions are pale grey, and black " ropes" of curling hair partially encircle the neck and extend as far as the shoulders. Crown of the head silvery grey, and muzzle slightly darker. An uncommon type. 3. The Blotched Male.-This is practically a composite form of the two preceding types, but the belly shows generally a white ground with heavy grey and black blotches superimposed. The upper surface is light grey with large dark blotches of blackish grey. Crown of head pale silvery grey and muzzle brownish black. Occasionally this type has dun markings on the belly and flipper-pits. A common type. 4. The Grey Spotted Male.-This pronounced type shows a strong line of demarcation between the upper parts, which are a pure grey, and the throat and belly, which are a pure white. Over the whole of the upper and lower portions of the pelage are scattered a number of large black spots. A few small spots are sometimes seen on the sides of the head, the muzzle, and the flippers. * When in full coat in October the old males frequently grow hair on the neck, which is much longer than the pelage on the rest of the body, and in the case of the light grey males these ridges of hair are often long lines of black, which, as Edmonston has already noted, give the animal the appearance, when rearing his head out of the water, as if several small ropes encircled the throat. |
