. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. KATVItAZ EI^TOMl'. oppoi-tunity iiemiits, after the young are ))ut a few days old, land and commence tlieii- slaughter. As the young increase in strength and take to the water the female parents gradually leave them, and join the males, which have already gone north. In July flock-s of Seals, termed by " Seals' weddings," have been seen at times in the pai'allels of 70° and 77° N. lat. Opinions are at variance respecting the migi-ation from the west coast of Greenland towards Spitzbergen, and eastwards; and Eink, at lea
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. KATVItAZ EI^TOMl'. oppoi-tunity iiemiits, after the young are ))ut a few days old, land and commence tlieii- slaughter. As the young increase in strength and take to the water the female parents gradually leave them, and join the males, which have already gone north. In July flock-s of Seals, termed by " Seals' weddings," have been seen at times in the pai'allels of 70° and 77° N. lat. Opinions are at variance respecting the migi-ation from the west coast of Greenland towards Spitzbergen, and eastwards; and Eink, at least, holds that the Seals of Baffin's Bay go in the spring down the west side of Davis Strait to Newfoundland and Labrador, where vast numbers are annually killed. At birth the Saddle-backs are pure woolly white, this gi-adually assuming a yellowish tint when they talcc to the water a few weeks old. Tliey then begin to change to a dark speckled, and afterwai-ds a. ON THE ICE. spotted hue, and are called "Hares" by the sealers. Next they become dark-bluish on the back, while the breast and belly are of a sombre .silvery hue. They are now " ; Getting more spotted, the peculiar saddle-shaped band begins to form as they approach maturity. While in the fifth and stage, the male acqukes that well-developed half-moon-shaped mark on each side, the veritable saddle from wliich this Seal derives its vernacular name. An adult male is five or six feet long, the female seldom as much. The former is tawny-grey, or with a tinge of yellow or even reddish-brown in the spots, and marked by the saddle or lyi-e-shaped doi-sal bands ; hence also the cognomen of Harp Seal. The muzzle and head are dai-k. The adult female is dirty-white or tawny-bluish, or dark-gi-ey on the,back, with widely-distributed iiTegular spotting, but seldom or never shows the saddles. Jftink says a full-grown Saddle-back weighs about 2-501bs., the skin and blubber over, and the flesh uml
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecta, booksubjectanimals
