168 Zoological N. Y. Zoological Society. [I; 8 



greatly preferred it alive. Live crabs and bits of seaweed placed 

 in their pool always remained untouched. 



They doubtless feed on live squid like the fur seal, but re- 

 fused the dead squid we took pains to procure for them. Peron 

 found cuttlefish beaks and Fucus in the Antarctic elephant seal's 

 stomach. Lambert says, "their food is chiefly kelp, but I have 

 found squid in their stomach." Harris found "tiny sardines not 

 more than two inches long" in the stomachs of some of the ele- 

 phant seals taken at Guadalupe Island; such fishes being abun- 

 dant at the mouths of the sea caves near by. Cleveland de- 

 scribes the food of the southern species as consisting of "cuttle- 

 fish and mollusks." 



The heavy claws of the fore flippers may be useful to the 

 animal in procuring mollusks from sandy bottom. 



Young. 



The yearling elephant seal is somewhat heavier and longer 

 than the nursing pup, but is proportionately more slim, brownish 

 gray in color and has longer whiskers. The nursing pup is black 

 and its length is about four feet. It is so remarkably fat as to be 

 practically unable to move, while the yearling is quite active. 

 None of the six yearlings brought to the New York Aquarium 

 exceeded five feet in length. Their weights varied from 167 

 pounds to 301 pounds, males being heavier than females. 



The nursing female was usually accompanied by a yearling, 

 as well as a young pup. Doubtless the presence of the yearling 

 with the adult female accounts for the conflicting statements of 

 sealers about the breeding season. Judging from the conditions 

 that we observed at Guadalupe Island, the breeding season begins 

 just before the first of March. The period of gestation must be 

 nearly twelve months,* as the females with black pups about a 

 week old, were already mating. I am convinced that the young 

 animals I described in 1884 as pups were really yearlings. I 

 never saw the black pup until 1911, and there are none in 

 museums, at least in America. 



*Twelve months is known to be the period of gestation in the fur seal. Cap- 

 tain Cleveland makes the statement that the female of the southern elephant seal 

 "gives birth to young twice a year," but his observations on this point have been 

 misinterpreted. He says mating begins in November, which is the beginning of 

 summer; a second mating would mean a breeding season at the beginning of winter, 

 which is incredible. 



