STARAYA ARTEL ROOKERY. 297 



A bull was seen to strike an escaping cow in the mouth ; she, however, got away 

 from him and ran down into the water. In two cases cows coming iu from the water 

 were seen to break away, after being held for a few moments by water bulls, and climb 

 up the rocks to harems above, where they evidently belonged. They were probably 

 cows which were returning from feeding. 



Many seals here, as on North rookery, were seen sporting in the water, the light- 

 colored bottom making their movements very distinct. 



The hauling ground of this rookery now occupies a space of about two acres. The 

 seal grass area behind would point to an area of fully 20 acres as once hauled over by 

 the bachelors. A herd of 300 or 400 bachelors were lying on the hauling ground. 

 Pups seem less numerous here thau at North rookery. 



Forty to 50 large sea lions lay sleeping on the rocks just out of the water. The 

 seals lie about them and pass to and fro, apparently unnoticed by them and not 

 noticing them. The sea lions look like great logs. When disturbed they roll into the 

 water in a lumbering fashion, but soon haul out again. They are doubtless bachelors 

 from the sea-lion rookery farther to the southeast on Tolstoi Point. 



STARAYA ARTEL ROOKERY. 



Staraya Artel rookery lies to the west of North rookery and about 2 miles distant 

 from the village. It occupies a limited shore line, rising into a rather steep slope by a 

 succession of rocky shelves. The hillside breaks off into a perpendicular cliff on the 

 western side and drops in a gradual slope down to a basin-like depression containing 

 a small pond. On the rocky shelves of the beach the harems are well defined, but on 

 the smooth slope above the seals are massed and the harems merge into one another 

 without definite boundaries. 



This rookery is a very difficult one to count. The very large number of idle bulls 

 which occupy the slope behind make it impossible to closely approach the harems. In 

 order to make any count at all it was necessary for one person to keep off the bulls 

 while the other did the work. Then many of the harems on the shelves could not be 

 seen at all, while at a distance the massed portion of the slope could not be separated 

 into harems. A combination of the partial counts made by Dr. Jordan and Mr. Clark 

 gave a total of 59 harems and 910 cows for this rookery. 



The number of idle bulls on Staraya Artel rookery was unusually large and they 

 were very fierce. Forty-five were counted. They were spread out over a considerable 

 area of ground and were constantly fighting among themselves. Most of the fighting 

 witnessed amounted to nothing more than a bluff. Two bulls would run at one 

 another, lunge forward nearly touching each other, and then return to their stations. 

 The number of scarred and bleeding animals, however, showed evidence of a great 

 deal of actual fighting. The wounds for the most part were upon the scalp, the breast, 

 or at the angle of the fore flipper with the body, this latter seeming to be a favorite 

 place of attack. 



One of the idle bulls, crowded too near the harems by our approach, made a break 

 for the sea through the rookery. He was immediately attacked by the harem masters, 

 escaping from the clutches of one only to be seized by another below. Sometimes two 

 had him at once. He was passed along through the whole line of harems until finally 

 he was thrown over the cliff into the sea at the foot of the slope. Great confusion 

 was created in the harems by the fighting, but no general stampede occurred. Bach 

 bull soon had his cows rounded up and forced into quiet. 



