338 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



they are collectively termed a "rookery" (Plate XIX, fig. 2). The number of cows in 

 the harem depends on the strength and activity of the bull and his ability to keep away 

 other bulls. As many as thirty cows have been observed in one harem but a smaller 

 number is the rule, from a dozen to twenty, though some bulls have to content them- 

 selves with two or three only (Plate XXI, fig. i^). The bulls in adjacent harems are 

 continually fighting over the possession of the cows, and driving away the bachelor 

 bulls which lie on the beach round the edge of the harem, and also loiter around in the 

 water alongside. If one of these bulls outside the harem makes a move, the harem bull 

 immediately raises up his head, and if the bachelor approaches his harem he starts 

 roaring. In roaring the bull throws back the head and inflates the proboscis and, with 

 the mouth widely open, produces a succession of loud expiratory bellows in the throat 

 (Plate XXI, fig. 3). After three or four long ones, he gives a number of shorter ones 

 and usually finishes off with another long one. The roar is not inspiratory, as has been 

 stated by some writers, but expiratory. Between each roar there is a pause for breath, 

 and during the roaring particles of saliva and phlegm can be seen to be forcibly ejected 

 from the throat. 



When the harem bull starts roaring at a bachelor bull, if the latter is a small one, 

 he usually takes this as a warning and edges away, but if he is a big one he usually 

 answers back, challenging the harem bull to fight, frequently approaching closer. This 

 sets the harem bull beside himself with fury and immediately he blindly rushes at his 

 rival in a direct line over his cows and pups. If this does not start the other in flight 

 a fight ensues. Approaching each other closely face to face, each bull rears up as far 

 as he can on the hind third of the body, and, with the mouth wide open and the proboscis 

 inflated, falls forward against his rival, endeavouring to lacerate him with his upper 

 canine teeth (Plate XXII, figs. 2, 3). They do not bite each other when fighting in 

 this way, and most of the wounds are received on the head and sides of the neck. If, 

 however, one of them makes an unsuccessful lunge and falls forward, the other wallops 

 down on top of him with all his weight and bites his neck or back, sometimes tearing 

 out a lump of skin and blubber nearly a foot square. If this happens the fight finishes 

 at once, the vanquished making off as fast as he can, pursued for a short distance by 

 the victor. If no bad wounds are given these fights do not last longer than four or five 

 minutes; if the harem bull gets in a few good blows the other soon gives up. 



When trying to drive a human intruder from the neighbourhood of the rookery, if 

 roaring does not effect his purpose, the harem bull makes for the cause of his annoyance 

 with all possible speed and regardless of obstacles. If he is in the middle of his harem 

 he goes lolloping over his cows and pups, in spite of the disturbance that this causes, 

 and it is astonishing that the pups manage to survive such rough treatment. One would 

 expect to find them completely flattened by the passage of a large bull over them, yet 

 one rarely sees them injured in this way. The bull, however, does not dare to leave his 



1 I am indebted to Lady Shackleton for permission to reproduce this photograph and those shown 

 in Plate XXIII, figs, i and 2. They were taken at South Georgia during the Shackleton Antarctic 

 Expedition of 1914-17. 



