532 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



charging at the thieving bull, who had great difficulty in retaining the unwilling cow. 

 This is the third case of such stealing witnessed from this point. It would seem as if 

 this was the way in which the rear line of harems was built up. All the harems so 

 far on Lukanin are in charge of bulls in the first line from the water. This does not 

 seem to be true in as general a way on other rookeries. 



When the cow was stolen her pup, which was sleeping, was left behind. It was 

 only about a day old and not able to climb the stones very well. When awakened in 

 a short time by the commotion in the harem it cried lustily. The mother answered it. 

 The pup recognized her voice and immediately started in her direction, but a line of 

 rocks over which it could not climb intervened. The mother continued to call at 

 intervals and the pup to answer. After tiring itself out in attempts to get over the 

 rocks it gave up and started around them. Twice it was on the point of rounding the 

 rocks when it heard its mother's voice and instantly returned to the original attempt to 

 climb the rocks in a direct line to the mother. During all this time the pup could not 

 see its mother. After twenty minutes of severe labor it finally got around the rocks 

 and into comparatively smooth going. In ten minutes more it was welcomed by its 

 mother and lay down upon her back, evidently tired out. The great difficulty with 

 the seal pup is that it wants to climb over every rock that appears in its way, no 

 matter how inaccessible it may be. It is only after a number of repeated failures 

 that the idea occurs to go around. 



It is evident from this instance and from that noted on Gorbatch a day or two ago 

 that the fur-seal pup even at the age of one day knows the sound of its mother's voice 

 and can follow it. He is not confused and misled by the voices of other cows, because 

 in the above instance at the time the pup was awakened, and for most of the time 

 during which it was endeavoring to get to its mother, 4 other cows and their pups 

 were calling about it as they were roused up and scolded by the excited bull. 



A day or two ago a bull was seen to lose his harem of 3 cows while trying to 

 capture a landing cow. He started a new harem with a single cow, which he cut 

 severely in getting her. This morning the cow is in charge of another bull some distance 

 in the rear. Her pup lies beside the original bull. This is evidently another case of 

 stealing. This over-ambitious bull is now without cows and his rival, holding the 

 original harem, has this morning 12 cows. 



Mr. Adams, who visited Lukanin cliffs during the afternoon, reported that 

 the pup had succeeded in covering half the distance to its mother, thus furnishing 

 additional evidence of the ability of the pup to recognize its mother's voice. This pup 

 was born at 4.15 on the afternoon of the 22d, and is consequently less than 2 days old. 



THE DEAD PUP. 



In a harem of 6 cows under the cliff the birth of a stillborn pup was witnessed 

 this morning. This is the harem in which the first dead pup was noted. The mother 

 stripped off the placenta and lifted the pup to the nipple. She was lying on a slanting 

 rock and the pup rolled back. She dragged it up again only to have it slide down. 

 She moved her position and placed the pup on a little shelf. She continued to lift it 

 about and fondle over it for nearly an hour, acting in a very worried and excited 

 manner. She bit the other cows and stirred the whole harem up. There was no 

 evidence in her actions that she realized her pup was dead. Her efforts were directed 

 to getting the pup to nurse, the first thing the mother always does. At last the cow 



