REPORT OF AMERICAN COMMISSIONERS. 327 



repels them with a snarl and passes on. When Cow sucicies 



her own pup only. 



she finds her own she fondles it a moment, 

 turns partly over on her side so as to present her 

 nipples, and it promptly begins to suck. In 

 one instance we saw a mother carry her pup 

 back a distance of fifteen meters (fifty feet) 

 before allowing it to nurse. It is said that the 

 cows sometimes recognize their young by their 

 cry, a sort of bleat. 



11. Soon after birth the pups move away from 'Podding.' 

 the harems and huddle together in small groups, 



called ' pods,' along the borders of the breeding 

 rookeries and at some distance from the water. 

 The small groups gradually unite to form larger 

 groups, which move slowly down to the water's 

 edge. When six or eight weeks old the pujis 

 begin to learn to swim. Not only are the younp- Aqnatic birth 



- J J n impossible. 



not born at sea, but if soon after birth they are 

 washed into the sea they are drowned. 



12. The fur-seal is polygamous, and the male .Comparativo 



^ -^ ^ ' size of bull and 



is at least five times as large as the female. As*^*'^' 



a rule each male serves about fifteen or twenty "^^^ harem. 



females, but in some cases as many as fifty or 



more. 



13. The act of copulation takes place on land. Copulation, 

 and lasts from five to ten minutes. Most of the 



cows are served by the middle of July, or soon 



