DISORGANIZATION OF ROOKERIES. 141 



very lean and lank, and his harem becomes disorganized, the pups 

 gathering into pods, the females going and coming from the water, and 

 the bachelors mingling with the cows and pnps. 



From the time the bulls haul out in May till they leave in Septem- 

 ber they neither eat nor drink, and their lean and 

 lanky appearance in September is in striking con- l. a. Noyes,p. 81. 

 trast with their rotund form and sleek and glossy 

 coats in May. 



When they first appear upon the rookeries the bulls are fat and sleek 

 and very aggressive, but after a stay of from 

 three to four months, without food, they crawl j. c.Bcdpath,p.U8. 

 away from the rookeries in a very lean condition. 



The bulls do not eat at all while ou the breed- t. F. Ryan, p. 175. 

 ing rookeries. 



I gather, too, from further research that the nature of their food and 

 the source whence it is obtained are better under- 

 stood than formerly. It is well known that the c. M. Scammon,p. 475. 

 bulls eat nothing during the rutting season and 

 while taking care of their harems on the islands. 



DISORGANIZATION OF THE ROOKERIES. 

 Page 112 of The Case. 



The latter steps in the history of rookery life all facilitate, if indeed 

 they do not play an important part in, the disor- 

 ganization of the harem system. Just as soon as j. Stanley Broun, p. 16. 

 the pup has reached the age of forming pods and 



making little excursions hither and thither, the bull's authority dimin- 

 ishes, for his control over the mother is lost in the presence of the bleat 

 of the hungry offspring. 



Up to the 20th of July the breeding grounds present a compact, 

 orderly arrangement of harems, but under the combined influence of 

 the completion of the serving of the females and the wandering of the 

 pups, disintegration begun at that date rapidly progresses. It is at 

 this time that the virgin cows of 2 years of age, or not older than 3, 

 mingle more freely with the females and probably enter the maternal 

 ranks, for the unsuccessful males and maturer bachelors, no longer 

 deterred by the old males, also freely wander over the breeding grounds. 



In August the families, or harems, break up and John Fratis, p. 108. 

 the cows scatter all over the rookeries. 



The rutting season among the seals continues through the months of 

 June and July and into the early part of August, 

 and upon its subsidence the rookery bulls, after j. m. Morton, p. 67. 

 their long fasting of two or three months, after 



many sanguinary battles, worn, starved, and emaciated, return to the 

 water. Younger males now make their appearance on the rookeries, 

 coming and going at will; and now thousands and tens of thousands 

 of "pups," "podded" together near the beaches or plunging and roll- 



