THE RUSSIAN FUK-SEAL ISLANDS. 21 



the recolonization of the island the otters were found common in places; thus it is 

 said that in 1827 no less than 200 otters were killed in one week at the Reef near the 

 present Nikolski village (Slunin, Promysl. Kamch. Sakh. Komand. Ostr., 1895, p. 

 10.'!). I5ut the reckless slaughter of former days was resumed and the sea-otter 

 long ago ceased to be a regular inhabitant of that island. Occasionally a solitary 

 individual strays over from Copper Island, where the same careful management 

 which resulted in the increase of tlie fur-seal has succeeded in preserving and increas- 

 ing tlie sea otter to such an extent that I believe there is no other place in the world 

 where so many sea-otters can be seen at the present day. The condition of the herd 

 is now such that 200 animals can be killed oft' yearly without detriment. The places 

 where the sea-otter have their rookeries are constantly guarded, to keep intruders 

 off. Shooting, making tire, or smoking is strictly prohibited near these jilaces. Oidy 

 nets are now used to caiJture the otters; and if any females or yearlings are caught 

 alive they must be set free. The number to be taken is determined in advance by the 

 administration, and the hunting expeditions of the natives are undertaken in common, 

 under the leadership of the chief, though each hunter keeps the otter he secures. 

 They are taken oft' their hands by the Russian Government at a certain fixed price. 



Of other marine mammals occurring at the Commander Islands, we may further 

 mention four speciesof hair-seals, viz, P/(oc« larf/ha,f(etida, grcenlandica, aud fasciatn; 

 three species of ziphioid whales, viz, Zi2)hius grehmizMi, Berardius hairdii, and Meso- 

 plodon sttjnegeri ; a sperm whale {rhyseirr man-occphalus); several delphinoid whales, 

 among which the terrible enemy of the fur-seal, the killer {Orca gladiator), as well as 

 several species of fin-back whales. 



The land mammals are few, the most important being the Arctic fox ( Vulpes 

 lagopus). These animals, which are now fairly common, yielding a handsome income to 

 the natives, belong almost exclusively to the dark-bluish phase. Their economic 

 iuii)ortance will be treated of elsewhere in this report. 



Tiiere are two rodents on Bering Island, but both have been introduced by the 

 agency of man during late years. Mufi musculus, the common house-mouse, was brought 

 to Bering Island in 1870 by the schooner Justus, in a cargo of flour. The short-tailed 

 red field-mouse (,l/(cro<KS rutilus), which now overruns the islands in vast numbers, was 

 introduced from Kamchatka at a much later date, probably with the firewood. This 

 is probably also the origin of the bats [VespcrtiUo?) which are said to have been seen 

 at Nikolski during the last couj^le of years. 



The introduction of the reindeer {Ranqifer tarandus) will be mentioned elsewhere 

 (p. 33). 



BIRDS. 



I have reported upon the birds in a separate volume (Results of Ornithological 

 Explorations in the Commander Islands and in Kamtschatka. By Leonhard Stejneger. 

 Bull. No. 29, U. 8. Nat. Mus. 1885; 382 pp. + 8 plates) and in a later supi)lementary 

 paper (Revised and Annotated Catalogue of the Birds Inhabiting the Commander 

 Islands; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1887, pp. 117-U5 + 3 plates), to which I would refer 

 the reader for detailed information. In the last-mentioned paper I enumerated 143 

 species of birds as having been collected in the Commander Islands. To these I can 

 now add three species, viz: (1) Garla. alba, the ivory gull, a specimen of which Mr. 

 Grebnitski presented to me (C S. Nat. Mus., No. 151983); (2) Eurynorhynvhua pugnurus, 

 the spoon-bill sandpiijer, two specimens of which were shot during the latter part of 



