“These big seals have come out of the water to make ready for spring housekeeping. Each one selects a dry, sloping place which will suit the mothers and their little ones, and this home he is prepared to defend against all intruders. About the fifteenth of June the mother seals begin to come out of the water. They are obliged to come out and nurse their little ones on land, as even a human baby will not be more helpless in water, or drown more quickly than a baby seal. “As we watch the mother seals swimming toward land and walking up the beach, we shall see that they are only about one-sixth of the size of the big seals we have been examining. They are of a much more slender and graceful make, have remarkably handsome heads and necks, and are not encumbered with the mass of blubber under the skin. They do not need the blubber, for they go regularly into the water to feed, and even remain away two or three days, leaving the male seals to keep house and defend the children. Meantime these big seals fast and use up their store of blubber to maintain their vitality. “The big seals meet the mothers coming up the beach, and escort them to their homes and to comfortable seats among the rocks. The mother seals sit down and fan themselves with their flippers, and croon or sing. They turn their pretty heads artlessly from side to side, and croon to each other. No mother seal will stay alone for a minute; from six to fifty mothers always keep together in one home. “The big male seal has four distinct calls or notes. He has a chuckling whistle whereby he converses with the mother seals; a loud, angry roar for any other big seal who meddles with his family; a low growl, with which he talks to himself; and a sound like a cat spitting, when he is alarmed. Mother seals have the crooning song for their mates, and a bleat like a sheep for their little ones. Baby seals cry just like little lambs. “A mother seal seldom has more than one baby or “puppy” at a time. These mothers are exceedingly gentle, patient creatures, and very quiet. On shore they fan themselves, croon, and curl up for cosy naps, but the big seals are nervous and restless, and never sleep when ashore more than a few minutes at a time. “Baby seals cannot swim. They make their ba-a-a-ing cry all the time that they are awake. Their eyes are wide open at once; they are not blind at first, like kittens and puppies, but they do not know their mothers from any other seals. The mother seals know their own children by their cries, though to human ears their looks and cries are all exactly alike. No matter how far off the puppy may roll, no matter how many scores of puppies are heaped into a warm, furry ba-a-a-ing heap, the good little mothers can find each her own. Perhaps the sense of smell aids them as well as the bleating cry.