THE SEA-LION ROOKERIES 257 



if any can be found now this side of Kerguelen Land, 

 though there may be a few on the islands of the Gulf 

 of California. This is Macrorhinus leoninus, the males 

 of which have been seen twenty or more feet in length. 

 Some of their bones have been found at Catalina Har- 

 bor. According to Scammon, in former years there 

 were rookeries on many of the islands, just as there 

 are sea-lion rookeries to-day. Scammon thus refers 

 to them: 



"The habits of these huge beasts when on shore, or loitering 

 about the foaming breakers, are in every respect like those of 

 the leopard seals (that is, the Pacific harbor seals). Our observa- 

 tion of the sea elephants of CaHfornia go to show that they have 

 been found in much larger numbers from February to June 

 than during other months of the year. But more or less, we 

 at all times found them on shore, upon their favorite beaches, 

 which were about the Islands of Santa CataUna, Cerros, Guada- 

 lupe, San Bonitos, Natividad, San Roque, and Asuncion, and 

 some of the most inaccessible points on the mainland, between 

 Asuncion and Cerros. When coming up out of the water they 

 were generally first seen near the line of surf, then crawled up 

 by degrees, frequently reclining as if to sleep; again moving up 

 or along the shore, appearing not content with their last resting- 

 place. In this m'^nner they would ascend the ravines or 'low 

 downs,' half a mi' or more, congregating by hundreds. They 

 are not so active on land as the seals, but when excited to inordi- 

 nate exertion, their motions are quick, the whole body quiver- 

 ing with their crawhng, semi-vaulting gait, and the animal, at 

 such times, manifesting great fatigue. Notwithstanding their 

 unwieldiness, we have sometimes found them on broken, ele- 

 vated ground, fifty or sixty feet above the sea. 



"The principal seasons of their going on shore are when 

 about to shed their coats, when the females bring forth their 

 young (which is one at a time, rarely two), and the mating 

 season. These seasons for 'hauling up' are more marked in 

 southern latitudes. The different periods are known among 

 the hunters as the 'pupping cow,' 'brown cow,' 'bull and cow,' 



