THE BULLS AERIVAL AT THE ISLANDS. 131 



I have noticed in the killing- of young seals (pups) for food, in Novem- 

 ber, that their stomachs were full of milk, although 

 apparently the mothers had not been on the is- Danl. Webster, p. 180. 

 lands for several days previous. 



THE BULLS. 



ARRIVAL AT THE ISLANDS. 



Page 108 of The Case. 



In May, the bull seals commence to haul upon William Brennan,p. 539. 

 the rookeries, and the cows come three or four 

 weeks later. 



Old bulls and male seals appear to enter Bering Henry Brown, p. 318. 

 Sea before the cows leave the coast. 



The records kept upon the islands concerning the arrival of seals 

 show that in the last days of April or first days 



of May the bulls begin to make their appearance. J- Stanley Brown, p. 13. 

 The first arrival on St. Paul in 1871 was on May 



4, in 1890 on April 20. In the year 1870 the unusual fact appears in 

 the record that a large number of bulls were in the waters about the 

 island on February 15. 



I have further observed the fact that the bulls have a tendency to 

 return to the same place on the same rookery year 

 after year. One bull in particular, which I knew Chas. Bryant, p. 7. 

 from his peculiarities, returned to the same rock 

 for five seasons. 



In the spring, as early as February or March, RuthBurdulcofsMetal., 

 the big bulls first came. v- 206. 



The " wigs" (the old male seals) are the first seals to arrive on the rook- 

 eries ; coming about the middle of October. They 



fight for advantageous places on the beaches and Jas. W. Budington, p. 

 never leave their positions after once being estab- 595 - (Antarctic). 

 lished. * * * 



Seals always go back to the same rookery after a migration and gen- 

 erally endeavor to get the same position on a beach. 



The full grown male seals commence to appear about the islands 

 during the latter part of April or first of May. 

 They come from the southeast through the passes s. N. Buynitsky. 

 between the Aleutian Islands. The bulls, as 



these seals are called, do not immediately land, but swim about survey- 

 ing the coast; finally, they come on shore at the breeding rookeries, 

 invariably selecting a shore covered with bowlders and avoiding sand 

 beaches, for the reason, I believe, that when the pups are born on these 

 rookeries they may not be swept away by the surf. I believe also that 

 a bull comes back to the same rookery every season. This belief was 

 formed from information I received from several of the natives of the 



