THE SOUTHERN FUR SEALS. 73 



the fact that, though the females do not leave the islands much before the middle of 

 November, they are taken oft' the coast of Southern California in December. Their 

 trip down through the ocean must be rapid and more or less direct. 



HABITS OF THE SOUTHERN FUR SEALS. 



It may be worth our while to coutrast with the foregoing account of the fur 

 seal of the north some account of the life history of the fur seal of the Southern 

 Hemisphere, the species of Arctocephalus, from the recorded observations of such 

 early explorers and sealers as Delano, Fanning, Wedell, and Morrell. Dr. J. A. Allen 

 has brought together in a paper, which appears in the Proceedings of the Paris 

 Tribunal the important notes bearing upon this subject. 1 Without quoting in detail 

 we may here give a brief summary of these observations. 



THEIR MOVEMENTS. 



The adult males land first in November, taking up their places on the rookeries 

 and awaiting the arrival of the females, which come in December to bring forth their 

 young. They come and go, caring for their youiig, until about the 1st of February, 

 when the pups are left to shift for themselves. 



In February the younger males or bachelors come on shore to shed their hair 

 which is accomplished by about the 1st of May. This period corresponds to our 

 stagy season. The bachelors then take to the water and do not return on shore much 

 before the 1st of July. For a month or six weeks they come and go regularly, 

 abandoning the shore at the end of this time until some time in August. For the rest 

 of the season mixed herds, young males and females, occupy the shores, coming and 

 going at intervals, until the old males begin to arrive in November. The young 

 then retire. 



This seems to be the round of life for the various classes as recorded. There 

 is no lucid account of what becomes of the adult males and females after the offices 

 of reproduction are accomplished. The bulls are reported as fasting from the time of 

 their arrival until the breeding season is over, when they leave thin and lean, to return 

 the following season plump and fat. 



THEY DO NOT MIGRATE. 



It is asserted that the seals do not migrate, though the record of observations 

 seem to indicate that certain classes of the animals are absent from their breeding 

 places for longer or shorter periods. While some of the animals are about the shores 

 at all seasons, the evidence seems to show that they are of different classes and have 

 different periods of movement. 



BREEDING HABITS. 



The offices of reproduction are accomplished on land. The female bears, as a 

 rule, a single pup, though suggestions of the possibility of twins and even triplets 

 are offered. The young are helpless at birth and learn to swim about a month 

 afterwards. It is freely suggested that the mothers teach them. The pup at birth is 

 covered with black hair. It gets its fur and changes its black hair for a coat of gray 

 in a month or six weeks. 



1 Appendix IT. S. Case, Fnr Seal Arb., Vol. I, p. 375. 



