492 ANIMAL LIFE-HISTORIES 



instance the "earth" of the Fox and the "holt" of the Otter, 

 the latter being simply a hole in the bank of a stream. That 

 parental affection is strongly developed in Carnivores is a matter 

 of common knowledge. All have had occasion to note this in the 

 case of domesticated Dogs and Cats, and abundant examples are 

 recorded in books on sport. 



The Aquatic Carnivores (Pinnipedia) have much smaller 

 families than the majority of their terrestrial cousins, the young 

 being limited to one, or at most two. The Walruses, Seals, 

 and Eared Seals which constitute the group all visit land at 

 certain seasons, and remain there until their young are suffi- 

 ciently advanced to share the aquatic life for which these forms 

 are so eminently adapted. The crowded " rookeries " estab- 

 lished at this time by the Northern Fur-Seal (Otaria ursina) 

 on the Pribyloff Islands, in Behring Sea, have been described 

 in detail by Elliott and other observers. The first comers are 

 the mature males, of which vast numbers have arrived by about 

 the first of June, the far more numerous females making their 

 appearance about three weeks or a month later. As, too, many 

 of the younger and weaker males are " bachelors ", from com- 

 pulsion and not from choice, polygamy naturally results. The 

 males who have contracted family ties take once more to the 

 sea at the beginning of August, though a small minority return 

 to the land in September; and the large majority of individuals 

 have left the islands by November. The young seals are born 

 soon after their mothers reach land, and their eyes are open at 

 birth. After their fathers have resumed an aquatic life the cubs 

 make their first attempts in swimming, and though said to be 

 clumsy at first, are efficient in the art after about a month's 

 practice. From observations made on captive Eared Seals in 

 the zoological gardens at Cologne, Wunderlich believes that the 

 current accounts representing the cubs as having to " learn" to 

 swim are somewhat exaggerated, and he says that they are 

 quite at home in the water shortly after birth. But it is certain 

 that fairly prolonged sojourn on land is necessary before they 

 are strong enough to undertake long-distance swimming, the 

 adaptation to an aquatic life being much less complete than in 

 the case of young Cetaceans (see p. 490). Parental affection is 

 said to be far from strong in the Northern Fur-Seals. 



LEMURS (LEMUROIDEA). In these purely arboreal animals 



