ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



733 



SCRATCHING THE NECK WJTH A FRONT FLIPPER. 



tlu- Kurile Islands. The south- 

 irii fur-seals belono; to a dif- 

 fcrt'iit genus. Arctocephahis. 

 The most northerly represen- 

 tative of this genus is A. 

 tnwnscndi from the Guada- 

 lupe and other small islands 

 of Lower California. Other 

 s))ecics are A. philippi of the 

 Ga]a))agos Islands. A. ausfra- 

 lix of I.ohos Islands at the 

 mouth of La Plata River and 

 A. delaJaitdi of South Africa. 



In the autumn of 1909 a 

 pair of young pups was 

 brought by tlie United States 

 Bureau of Fisheries to the 

 small aquarium in Washing- 

 ton where they have thrived. 

 As a result of the success in 

 rearing this pair, six more 

 were brought from St. Paul 

 Island the iiast November and 

 distributed as follows: one 

 pair to Golden Gate Park, one 

 pair to the Washington Zoo- 

 logical Park and the third pair 

 to the New York Aquarium. 



The jiair presented to the Aquarium arrived 

 on November 2.". and being the first fur-seals 

 ever exhibited in New York City, they have 

 naturally attracted much attention. At the time 

 of their arrival they could not have been more 

 than five months old and their combined weight 

 was forty-three pounds : the male being about 

 three pounds Iieavier tlian the female. Thev 

 were jilaced in one of the large floor pools where 

 the female proceeded at once to make herself at 

 home, swimming actively about and taking food 

 at the first opportunity. The little male did not 

 apjiear to be in such good condition, as he swam 

 but little and took no food for a couple of days. In 



THEY ARE WITHOUT FEAR OF THE 



ATTENDANT AND WILL EAT FROM 



HIS HAND. 



a few daj's, however, he seemed to entirely recov- 

 er and was as active and fed as well as his mate. 

 For the first week or so both seals spent most 

 of their waking hours scratching themselves, 

 often rolling over and over in the water during 

 tliis performance, much to the amusement of the 

 spectators. During the first few days the male 

 slept much of the time, floating at the surface 

 with just the tip of his nose out of the water, 

 and many were the solicitous inquiries as to what 

 was the matter with him. Some of our kind- 

 hearted visitors even went to the extent of hunt- 

 ing up attendants to inform them that one of 

 the seals was very ill. 



Although fresh water is en- 

 tirely unknown to the seals in 

 nature, excejjt for the rain 

 which f,-^Us on them at their 

 breeding groiuids, they do not 

 seem to require salt water, but 

 have been given a salt water 

 bath once a week. 



They have been fed twice 

 a day on pieces of fish, cut in- 

 to strips ; cod and herring be- 

 ing used for the purpose. 

 They are entirely without 

 fear of the attendant and will 

 come upon the ))latform and 

 eat from his hand, though 

 they seem to jirefer to take 

 the food in the water. Inci- 

 dentally, I may mention that 

 tlie attendant jjrefers to feed 

 them in the latter way. as 

 they are treacherous animals 

 and bite without any warning. 

 One experience of the ability 

 of their needle-like teeth to 

 pierce flesh and rend cloth- 

 ing was sufficient to convince 

 their guardian that young fur- 

 seals do not make comfortable 



FRIGHTENED BY THE FLASH-LIGHT. 



