Courtrs]! of flfnr:,,- Wilhtt 



We took a pup alive back to tlic sliip. a glossy black little fellow, which ceased its childlike cries 

 onlv when held in onr arms 



We saw seals playing in the water or flop- 

 ping out on the shining bars, but did not 

 molest them. They were so tame that we 

 approached within a few feet, and one half- 

 grown pup lying out on a bar, flat on his 

 back, rolled over and beat a hasty retreat 

 only when I tickled him with the toe of my 

 boot. The old females, however, were a little 

 touchy when we approached too near the 

 pups, and one of the sailors had a close call 

 when an irate old lady slid down a bank — 

 under which the sailor had been boredly 

 awaiting our departure and where only a 

 sailor's agility saved him from a drub- 

 bing. 



The main rookery was located on the large 

 island visited by Mr. Willett. It was topped 

 with a scanty growth of tough wire grasses, 

 just enough to keep the sand from drifting 

 before the steady trade winds. Here we 

 found about twenty females with pups, 

 glossy black little fellows, a few half-grown 

 ones and a very small number of bulls, prob- 



ably fewer than sixty individuals in the 

 rookery. It would be folly, of course, even 

 to estimate the number of individuals at 

 sea, but they must be few when we consider 

 the pitifully small showing of young in the 

 main breeding colony. 



We took a pup back to the ship, and kept 

 it alive for some time, but its distress was so 

 great and its almost childlike cries so dis- 

 tracted the officers that we finally were 

 obliged to kill it. The only time the little 

 fellow would stop crying was when we held 

 him in our arms. 



We considered ourselves fortunate to have 

 discovered the breeding colony of these seals 

 whose real habitat has been a sort of mys- 

 tery so long, and we contented ourselves with 

 taking the three specimens I have mentioned. 

 We felt that even with the favorable condi- 

 tions which they have for their mode of life, 

 the colony seems far from successful, and 

 that an intimate study of their home life 

 during the breeding season is very desirable. 



The Laysan Seal 



Bv J. A. xVL LEN 



THE observations on the monk seal of 

 the Laysan Islands here recorded by 

 Mr. Bailey furnish highly interest- 

 ing information respecting a hitherto little- 

 known mammal, the existence of which, as 

 he states, was first maile known in 100.1, 



when a skin and skull, parts of two other 

 skulls, and a headskin were brought to the 

 natural history museum in Bremen by its 

 director, Dr. Schauinsland. These were de- 

 scribed by Dr. Matschie of the Berlin Mu- 

 seum, by whom the species was named Mo- 



;J99 



