Welsh Journals

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plankton and plant life, to the highest animal (man)-" all of which turn out in some way or other to be relevant to dispersion". Like War and Peace, this book is difficult to read in one go, but also like that great work, it will provide endless enjoyment taken little by little and digested by degrees. R.M.L. Grey Seals and the Fame Islands. By GRACE HICKLING. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. 180 pages. 1962. 30s. A general survey of studies carried out on this seal, Halichoerus grypus, in the Farne Islands up to 1961, including ten years of marking individuals with rings or tail tags. Up to 2,000 seals have been counted as present in this sanctuary at one time (Sep- tember), and in any given month some 1,000 are usually to be counted in a day. Over 1,000 calves were born there in 1960, from an estimated colony of 4,048 adults and immatures. Mort- ality (dead calves counted) was 16.1%. These are minimum figures. Recoveries of marked seals indicate a dispersal in a few weeks after weaning at three weeks of age to coasts around the North Sea and as far as the Faroe Islands (one). There is a useful summary of weighing and measuring work, and details of sexing and ageing. It is stated that a grey seal will certainly suckle an orphan also that twins, though rare, occur. The description of the normal behaviour of young calves is excellent. The writing is a bit careless here and there ("in the female the anus and the opening to the vulva are side by side and this idea was borne out on the Brownsman for example). There is a history of 100 years of protection of this seal in the Farnes. This book should be read by all seal students. J.E.M.