FUR-SEAL HEED OF ALASKA. 



251 



Jordan makes denial of the 

 male and female yearlings hauling 

 out together. 



There remains yet to be recorded the 

 arrival of the young ] and 2 year old 

 females. Their brothers, we found, 

 arrive at the islands about the middle of 

 July, and spend their time on the hauling 

 grounds. Whether the young females 

 come with them to the vicinity of the 

 islands or are associated with them on the 

 migrations is not known. But they do 

 not associate with them to any great 

 extent on the islands. (Fur Seal Inves- 

 tio-ations, pt. 1, 1898, p. 66.) 



Jordan denies seeing any year- 

 ling seals on the hauling grounds 

 up to July 25, 1896. 



July 25, 1906. — At the time of our first 

 enumeration, on Ketavie, Tolstoi, and the 

 Lagoon * * * no yearlings nor 2-year- 

 olds had appeared. Nor am I sure that 

 any have appeared since, unless yearling 

 cows are among the bachelors. I have not 

 seen one, and I am not sure that I have 

 seen a 2-year-old (cow). (Fur Seal Inves- 

 tigations, pt. 2. 1898, p. 341.) 



Lembkey, with 13 years' expe- 

 rience, swears that the male and 

 female yearlings do haul out to- 

 gether. 



Mr. Lembkey. This habit of annually 

 migrating from the place of its birth to 

 southerly waters can be explained in a 

 few words. Probably 90 per cent of all 

 female breeders give birth to their pups 

 within a period of three weeks, from June 

 25 to July 15 of each year. These pups 

 remain on the islands until about Novem- 

 ber 1 to 15 of each year, and then depart 

 southward. These pups return to the 

 islands the following year practically in a 

 mass about the 25th of Jidy, and then are 

 known as yearlings. Wiile a few indi- 

 viduals might arrive among the first 

 bachelors of the season, the bulk of the 

 yearlings arrive in a mass about the 25th 

 of July, as stated. 



If these yearling seals do not arrive until 

 after nearly the whole catch of the skins 

 is obtained, how is it possible to compose 

 the bulk of that catch of the skins of these 

 young animals, as alleged by Mr. Elliott? 

 (Hearing No. 9, pp. 412, 41.3, 415, Mar. 

 1, 1912, H. Com. Exp. Dept. Com. and 

 Labor.) 



Lembkey swears that he can 

 not tell them apart by looking at 

 them only. 



Mr. Lembkey. But the younger 

 females, and especially the 2-year-olds, 

 are almost exactly similar in appearance 

 to the males of the same age, and it 

 requires an expert to distinguish between 

 them. I can state that with 13 years of 

 experience, I can not by any means 

 always determine the sex of these animals 

 while they are alive and when they 

 appear on the killing field. (Hearing 

 No. 9, pp. ,377, 378, Mar. 1, 1912: H. 

 Com. Exp. Dept. Com. and Labor.) 



But ever since he landed, July 8, 

 first on the islands, he has seen 

 yearling seals on the hauling 

 grounds, and notes that sight, as 

 quoted below. 



July 11. — Zapadnie Rookery, St. 

 George Island: The yearling bachelors 

 are to be seen in little pods of half a dozen 

 or so. * * * Where the bachelor 

 yearlings are at a distance from interfer- 

 ence, they play among themselves like 

 little dogs. * * * Similar comparisons 

 might be made for the 2-year-olds, which 

 are bigger than the yearlings, nearly as 



