Z40 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



he will not leave her to drive the other away, merely contenting himself with roaring 

 persistently at him. 



From the above it will be seen that the cows take any bull that offers and show no 

 fidelity to the harem bull. The bulls have an extremely strong sexual instinct and appear 

 to be able to cover any number of cows in succession. In pairing, the bull embraces 

 the cow with one of his fore flippers and lying on one side draws her to him. He 

 takes hold by biting her neck and then brings his hind quarters round to the cow's 

 tail and protrudes his penis. The process lasts from ten to fifteen minutes during which 

 they both lie quiescent. This habit of the bull biting the cow is the cause of the many 

 white spot-like scars to be seen on the necks of the cows (Plate XXI, fig. i). 



The period of gestation is eleven months. 



Towards the end of the pairing season when the pups have changed their coats and 

 are leaving their mothers, occasional bachelor bulls that have been unable to get a 

 harem of their own persecute the pups and attempt to pair with them. The writer 

 thinks that pups are sometimes killed by this misplaced affection. Though none were 

 ever actually seen to be killed, dead pups have been found that showed no definite 

 cause of death, but appeared to have been suffocated by the weight of a bull practising 

 this habit. 



Cows. The cows in the harems are very quarrelsome amongst themselves. If, in 

 moving, one of them disturbs another they snap at each other, striking forwards and 

 downwards with the upper canines after the manner of the bulls in fighting, though 

 they do not rear up on the back part of the body so much as the bulls. They do not, 

 however, have pitched battles like the bulls, these bouts of quarrelling being merely 

 displays of bad temper. If they are disturbed by the presence of a human visitor to 

 the rookery and are closely approached they rear up the front part of the body, support- 

 ing it with their fore flippers, and, opening the mouth widely, produce a harsh roaring 

 noise in the back of the throat, and lunge out towards the cause of their annoyance. 

 The voice of the cows when angry is similar to that of the bulls, but is not nearly so 

 deep. When they have their pups the cows also produce another sound that is very 

 characteristic of the rookeries at this period. It is a long drawn-out falsetto sound, 

 almost a whine, produced with the head thrown up and the mouth widely open (Plate 

 XXIV, fig. 2). This cry is used in calling to the young pups and if the rookery is 

 disturbed so that the pups get separated from the cows an amazing volume of sound 

 is produced until the mothers have found their young ones again. 



After the pups are born the virgin cows begin to haul out and join the rookeries, 

 most of them arriving in the last half of October and in the beginning of November. 

 It is easy to recognize them in the rookeries by their small size and the absence of old 

 scars on their necks. It is quite certain that none of the adult cows escapes impregnation, 

 as there are too many spare bulls on the beaches for this to happen. 



Growth. Elephant seal take two years to become adult. At the end of the first 

 year they are 5! to 6| ft. long, judging from the few examples seen that had been 

 branded, and by the numbers of this size, male and female, that are to be seen on the 



