1899] THE HABITS OF THE NORTHERN FUR SEAL 41 



up to the 29th July the smallest number noted on shore at any one 

 time was 217, on the 30th July, at 8.30 A.M., there were only 160; 

 and on the 2nd August only about 70. 



On unprotected rookeries, like, say, Sabatcha Dira of Copper 

 Island, the pups are prevented by the constant surf from learning to 

 swim until they are bold enough to face the breakers, and so they learn 

 to swim slightly later. Still, at Sabatcha Dira, on the 7th August, I saw 

 a pup accompanying his mother with ease and confidence among the 

 heavy breakers then coming in. But this was an exceptional pup ; 

 the vast majority were afraid to face the surf at all. 



As soon as the pups begin to swim they amuse themselves by 

 playing with pieces of seaweed, and no doubt anything nourishing 

 which they come across finds its way to their stomachs. This is no doubt 

 a preparation for their winter feeding at sea. The earliest date on which 

 I saw a pup playing with kelp was on the 29 th July at the South 

 rookery. On the same day I saw a pup follow his mother nearly out 

 to the breakers before he allowed her to leave him. I cannot but 

 think that the pups must, in the first instance, gain a great deal of 

 their first knowledge of where their food may be found by thus follow- 

 ing their mothers away from the rookeries. 



By the middle of August (first noted on August 10, 1896) the 

 pups show signs of moulting and assuming their grey coat, their 

 heads especially presenting a very patchy appearance. Later in the 

 season it is a frequent sight to see pups playing with sea weed or 

 anything else which may come in their way, and in shallow water I 

 have seen them nibbling at something at the bottom ; and, on August 

 17, 1896, at Copper Island, I saw a pup with something in its mouth 

 which looked remarkably like a fish. On the 6th September 1896 

 I shot a puffin (Fratercula comiculata) on St. Paul Island, which, 

 unfortunately, fell into the sea out of my reach. Some pups which 

 happened to be playing near at hand seemed to take an interest in it, 

 and sniffed at it, but I did not actually see them bite it. Again, at 

 the landing-place at St. Paul Island, a pup was seen by me 

 pulling at a rope on September 20, 1896. This happened again on 

 the 24th. On that day when I was standing at the same landing- 

 stage, a pup came swimming by without seeing me, and finding one 

 end of the same rope floating in the water, he began to pull and 

 play with it like a puppy dog. Presently I began to pull the rope in 

 towards me, and had actually brought him in a bit, before he noticed 

 my presence, and took to his flippers with a surprised hiss. 



