348 CALLORHINUS URSINUS NORTHERN FUR SEAL. 



" The landing of the seals upon the respective rookeries is 

 influenced greatly by the direction of the wind at the time of 

 approach to the islands. The prevailing winds, coming from 

 the northeast, north, and northwest, carry far out to sea the 

 odor or scent of the pioneer bulls, which have located them- 

 selves on different breeding-grounds three or four weeks usu- 

 ally in advance of the masses ; and hence it will be seen that 

 the rookeries on the south and southeastern shores of Saint 

 Paul's Island receive nearly all the seal-life, although there are 

 miles of eligible ground on the north shore. 



"To settle this question, however, is an exceedingly difficult 

 matter j for the identification of individuals, from one season 

 to another, among the hundreds of thousands, and even millions, 

 that come under the eye on a single one of these great rook- 

 eries, is really impossible. 



"From the time of the first arrivals in May up to the 1st of 

 June, or as late as the middle of this month, if the weather be 

 clear, is an interval in which everything seems quiet 5 very few 

 seals are added to the pioneers. By the 1st of June, however, 

 or thereabouts, the foggy, humid weather of summer sets in, 

 and with it the bull-seals come up by hundreds and thousands, 

 and locate themselves in advantageous positions for the recep- 

 tion of the females, which are generally three weeks or a month 

 later, as a rule. 



"The labor of locating and maintaining a position in the 

 rookery is really a serious business for those bulls which come 

 in last, and for those that occupy the water-line, frequently 

 resulting in death from severe wounds in combat sustained. 



" It appears to be a well-understood principle among the able- 

 bodied bulls that each one shall remain undisturbed on his 

 ground, which is usually about ten feet square, provided he is 

 strong enough to hold it against all comers ; for the crowding 

 in of fresh bulls often causes the removal of many of those who, 

 though equally able-bodied at first, have exhausted themselves 

 by fighting earlier, and are driven by the fresher animals back 

 farther and higher up on the rookery. 



" Some of these bulls show wonderful strength and courage. 

 I have marked one veteran, who was among the first to take 

 up his position, and that one on the water-line, where at least 

 fifty or sixty desperate battles were fought victoriously by him 

 with nearly as many different seals, who coveted his position, 

 and when the fighting season was over, (after the cows have 



