FUR SEALS AND OTHER LIFE, PRIBILOF ISLANDS, 1914. 



63 



On St. George Island, a much larger number was seen, the total being 74, but here, 

 as well as on St. Paul, it was impossible to be certain that some animals had not been 

 counted more than once, so the total is a maximum. The obser\-ations on St. George 

 Island, as shown bv the notes of Messrs. Proctor and Hanna, were as follows : 



Branded yearlings seen on St. George Island, IQIJ. 



Efforts to obtain specimens of branded yearlings and records of weights and 

 measurements on St. Paul Island were unsuccessful, but on St. George three of the 

 animals were secured and two others obviously of the same age, but unbranded. These 

 were measured and weighed in the presence of Agent Proctor by Mr. Hanna, who is an 

 experienced zoological collector accustomed to measuring animals. The data obtained 

 and certified to by Messrs. Hanna and Proctor follow : 



Measurements and weights of male yearlings, St. George Island.^ 



" Since these were taken after Aug. lo, the assumption is justified that they were from a few days to several weeks more than 

 xa months of age. 



b Length of animal from tip of nose to root of tail, taken with tapeline before skinning. 



c This weight is inclusive of the skin of the head; the other weights are of skins prepared in the usual manner, without the 

 head skin or "mask." 



Although yearlings may have been recognized and measured in the past, these 

 figures are the first and only available ones based on the examination of seals of posi- 

 tively known age. The weights of the two skins taken in the usual manner are well 

 below 5 pounds, the minimum prescribed by the Government regulations for kilhngs 

 in past years. The others weighed somewhat more, owing to the inclusion of the head- 

 skin or "mask," which is ordinarily left on the carcass. Such a mask from a skin of 

 only 3 pounds 8^ ounces total weight was weighed August 18, 1914, and found to weigh 

 2}{ ounces, or 6.2 per cent of the total weight. With allowance for this extra weight it 

 is seen that even the skin taken November 5, and therefore from an animal of some 15 

 months of age, only slightly exceeded 5 pounds, and all the others were less than that. 

 84512°— S. Doc. 980. 63-3 5 



