THE PACIFIC WALRUS 69 



Picture then the Pacific walrus in its northern 

 home. The low outlines of Walrus Island loom 

 indistinctly through the thick muggy atmosphere of 

 Bering Sea. The grunting of thousands of lomvia 

 is borne upon the icy air ; swaying in long files, 

 multitudes of loons sit on the water. There are 

 hundreds of thousands of other seafowl cormorants, 

 auks, and gulls ; the shore of the rock is encompassed 

 by a thick belt of birds standing like so many bottles, 

 grunting and quarrelling; while their eggs lie every- 

 where, and frequently roll off into the sea. The 

 walrus themselves lie in huge crowded masses, their 

 immense blubber-laden shoulders contrasting oddly 

 with their flat heads ; the old males with hides almost 

 bare, long drooping tusks, and bristly moustaches, 

 are veritable warriors of Neptune. Here in the 

 driving sleet and heavy mist the Pacific walrus 

 enjoys an ideal home. Plenty of food is to be found 

 in the shell-fish, or in the bulbous roots of the 

 seaweeds which encumber the bays of the mainland ; 

 the vast icy water gives ample room for swimming 

 exercise, no hardship to an animal clad in so warm 

 an undervest of blubber ; tired of action, it can repair 

 to the isolated refuge of Walrus Island, whose low 

 flat surface, but a few feet above the waves, gives, 

 if required, a speedy "emergency exit " to the water. 

 The walrus do not seem to attack the bird popula- 

 tion ; indeed, the glaucus gulls breed in the very 

 interior of the island, among the early close-growing 



