164 MIGRATION OF THE HERD. 



The time of their* departure depends a good deal on the state of the 

 weather ; if the winter is open, they may be found 

 T.F.Morgan, p. 62. much later upon the islands, and if particu- 

 larly warm, seals may be found during the whole 

 winter upon and about the islands. Probably, too, they are induced to 

 leave the islands in pursuit of food. In my opinion, if the islands were 

 a little warmer in winter and not surrounded by ice, the seals would 

 remain there the year round, as they evidently consider the Pribilof 

 group their home. 



The seal life seems reluctant to depart from the islands, and does not 



entirely disappear before December or January; 



J. M. Morion, p. 67. while indeed, if the winter be an open and mild 



one, some of the old males will not depart at all. 



The seals are undoubtedly driven from the island by the severe winter 



climate of Bering Sea and the necessity of seeking food. AVere it not 



fer these facts, I should be unable to conceive of any reason for their 



migration. 



They do not migrate, but may be found on and about the islands 

 at all times of year. With this exception their 



Chas. W.Keed, p. 472. habits do not vary, as far as I know, from those 

 of fur-seals in Alaskan waters. 



The fur seals of the north, unlike the hair seals, do not seem to like 



the severe cold weather and ice of the north, for 



C. M. Scammon,p. 475. they migrate to the southward upon its approach, 



while those inhabiting the tropics, as at the Gal- 



lapagos Islands, leave the islands perhaps, but do not go, so far as is 



known, to any great distance. 



Fur-seals first appear off the coast of the mainland, in the neighbor- 

 hood of Port Etches, early in the month of April, 

 J. iv. Smith, p. 233. providing the winter has been one of average 

 duration. I believe the severity of the winter 

 season has a direct bearing on the time of the movement northward of 

 the fur-seals, as I have observed that if it has been an open one, they 

 appear at an earlier date; while after an unusually severe one the 

 seals are later in making their appearance. 



THE COURSE. 



Page 124 of Tlio Case. 



Our occupation does not take us below the entrance to Cooks Inlet, 



in a line from Cape Elizabeth on the peninsula to 



./«,,. Alexandra^ a ah, 0ape Do uglass on the mainland opposite. In the 



latter part of June and the hist part of July a 



few straggling fur seals are seen about the entrance to the inlet, but the 



actual time of their appearance is uncertain. 



Andrew Anderson, p. I usually fust fall in with fur-seals off Cooks 111- 

 217, let about the iirst of June. 



* The pupa. 



