424 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



COWS AND PUPS. 



Cows are seen to recognize their pups. The cow seems to shake her head as she 

 calls over her pup. The pup imitates her, aud the recognition is considered mutual. 

 The cow seems to assure herself by smelling. The pups know their mother's voice. 

 Cows snap at strange pups, and the strange pup treats the cow with indifference 

 when he knows she is not his mother. If the reception of a pup by its mother is not 

 as cordial and definite as could be desired, there is nothing lacking in the vigor of 

 the rejection of the strange pup. 



The indifference and stupidity of the average seal is well shown by the case of 

 the pup which just now has found its mother on a low stone in shallow water. She 

 was apparently suited with the position, and does not intend to move, but the pup is 

 in trouble. To get at the nipple it must stand on its hind nippers in the water, ani 

 every time the surf comes in is nearly swept away. Still the cow keeps her place, 

 letting the pup work out the problem for itself. Presently the cow slips off the rock 

 and swims out to sea. The pup follows hot after her. For some time the two can be 

 distinguished, the pup swimming over and about the cow. 



MB. LUCAS'S NOTES. 



At East rookery two recently dead starved pups were found. The pup starved 

 on St. Paul as a check died in fifteen days, so that these two can have died as a direct 

 result of pelagic sealing. Naturally many of the females must have gone to sea 

 before the 1st of August, so that their pups were without food for a week or more 

 before pelagic sealing began. 



From numerous observations it is apparent that cows when wet will allow pups 

 to nurse. It is also apparent that the pup recognizes its mother's cry. The seal's 

 sight is not very acute. While watching for sea lions three times it was necessary for 

 me to frighten away cows which walked directly up to me, so close that two more 

 steps would have brought them on me. 



SEA LIONS. 



I killed a very old sea lion at St. George to-day. Sea lions hauled out 150 to 200 

 yards from where we were skinning their mate. They rub noses in the water. Females 

 seem to have a peculiar movement of the head, moving it up and down, with a slight 

 vibratory motion. This apparently means something to the pup. Sea lions are much 

 more sociable and affectionate than seals; the pups accompany their mothers in 

 swimming, and haul out beside them. Bulls, cows, and bachelors haul out on the 

 same grounds, but the bachelors seem to keep more or less together, and are less 

 suspicious. Where are the yearlings? 



The peculiar chalky appearance of the excrement is probably due to the crabs on 

 which the animals feed. It is believed that the sea lions feed near the shore, and food 

 found in the stomach strengthens this. 



Sea lions like to go in compact herds. They lie on one side with flippers out like 

 humpback whales. 



A pup rests on the shoulders of its mother in the water, and is carried some 

 distance in this manner. No sea-lion pups are seen to nurse, and the mammary glands 

 of the female killed indicate that the pups have been weaned. 



