544 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



JULY 3. 



A count of Lukaiiin rookery made to-day shows 939 cows. The Amphitheater of 

 Kitovi has 362. The number of cows is therefore still increasing, and the proportion 

 of arrivals outnumbers the departures, if indeed any great number of cows are 

 leaving. 



Under the cliffs at Lukanin a pup was seen to start up calling and leave its 

 harem. It roused up a sleeping pup at some distance away and then wandered off 

 past 4 harems, a distance of at least 250 feet. It stopped occasionally to play with 

 pups. The second pup followed at some distance, going about half as far, and 

 entering a harem. The first pup turned about, passed down through a large harem 

 to the water's edge, and returned home by an entirely different route. The second 

 pup also got home safely. It is difficult to understand what prompted this wandering. 



A small animal already noted which looks like a yearling or possibly a small 2-year- 

 old is in a harein of 16 cows under the cliff. She was alone for some time with the 

 bull, which afterwards gradually made up his present harem. The young animal was 

 observed to pass into a harem below and take up its place there without any attention 

 being paid to it. 



Mr. Ohichester will photograph the Amphitheater every other day during the 

 season. These photographs should, together with the daily counts, show the condition 

 of the rookery from day to day. From present indications it would seem as if there 

 was a gradual ascent to a maximum, and then either a gradual decrease or else a 

 general breaking up. 



The Fish Commission has made arrangements with Mr. Chichester to duplicate 

 its regular series of rookery photographs. 



MR. LUCAS'S NOTES. 



The first harem on Gorbatch lies beside the rock bearing No. 25. It has 21 cows 

 and 12 pups. A cow probably from this harem is seen to enter the water and go out. 

 To the south is a harem of 4 cows and 5 pups. Perhaps the missing cow is the one 

 seen to slip into the water below. With one exception all these cows are over 3 years 

 of age. 



There are 6 bulls in the slide, all without cows, though below them are harems 

 of the ordinary size. The bull with the scar above his flipper crosses over and takes 

 his place on the shelf, getting as near me as possible. 



In the afternoon I spent some time in watching the harems on Lukanin and Kitovi. 

 Quite a number of cows were seen to arrive 15 or 20 in all. The bulls do not seem 

 to be aware of the presence of the cows until they are close at hand, sometimes until 

 they are actually in their harems. The cows come out at the easiest places and to a 

 great extent select their own harems, preference, as a rule, being given to the one 

 containing the largest number of cows. 



In many of the harems pups and cows are equal in number. Pups are being born; 

 one recent arrival is firmly anchored by its placenta. Pups get knocked about by 

 excited bulls, but are not seriously injured. 



By Kitovi is an old bull blind in the left eye and very timid. Can this be the bull 

 apparently recently blinded seen last year at this place? 



