DAILY JOURNAL OF OBSERVATIONS, 1 



BY DAVID STARR JORDAN, GEORGE ARCHIBALD CLARK, AND FREDERIC 



AUGUSTUS LUCAS. 



1896. 



The United States Fish Commission steamer Albatross steamed from Seattle at 9 

 o'clock a. m., June 24, having on board Dr. David Starr Jordan, commissioner in 

 charge of the American fur-seal investigation; his associates, Dr. Leouhard Stejneger, 

 Mr. Frederic A. Lucas, Capt. Jefferson F. Moser, Mr. Charles H. Townsend, Col. 

 Joseph Murray, and Mr. George A. Clark, and Prof. D'Arcy W. Thompson, represent- 

 ative for Great Britain, and Mr. James M. Macoun, representative for Canada. The 

 vessel reached Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, at 10 o'clock p. m., July 2, and after taking 

 coal steamed, at 8.15 p. m., on July 6, for the Pribilof Islands, arriving at St. George 

 on July 8 at 4 o'clock p. m. 



JULY 8. 

 NORTH ROOKERY. 



The members of both commissions immediately landed and visited North rookery, 

 which is located near the village of St. George. This rookery, in the eastern part, 

 lies on a narrow rocky beach at the foot of cliffs 50 to 75 feet in height, affording 

 excellent opportunities for observation. Toward the western end the breeding grounds 

 extend up the slope of the hill formed by the breaking down of the cliff 1 . 



A count of 23 harems made by Mr. Clark gave a total of 334 cows, an average of 

 14 to each harem. The harems ranged from .">6 cows in the largest to 1 in the smallest. 

 In another part of the rookery a count of 18 harems by Dr. Jordan gave a total of 218 

 cows, an average of 12 to a harem. 



The harems were well defined and carefully guarded by the bulls, which were con- 

 stantly moving about their outskirts rounding up the cows. Occasionally a bull would 

 dash through a harem scattering and trampling the cows in his haste to seize one 

 attempting to escape. The size of the harem seemed not to depend upon the strength 

 of the bull, small bulls having in some cases large harems while large bulls had small 

 ones. Location seemed to be a determining element. 



In the larger harems the bulls were more active than in the smaller ones, probably 

 because more exertion was necessary. Bulls in neighboring harems were frequently 

 seen to lunge at one another as if about to fight, but nothing came of it. The females* 



1 Where not otherwise stated these notes are the work of David S. Jordan and George A. Clark. 



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