SEAL LIFE ON THE PKIBILOF ISLANDS. 159 



I arrived on the islands this year a few days after the coming of the 

 first cows, and by selecting a small harem composed of seals, the arrival 

 oi' which I have seen, and giving it daily observation, I was able to sat- 

 isfy myself that females begin to go into the water from fourteen to 

 seventeen days after iirst landing. On first entering the sea they make 

 a straight line for the outer waters, and as lar as the eye can follow them 

 they seem still to be traveling. The first cows to arrive are the first to 

 depart in search of food, and by the tirst week in July the cows are 

 coming and going with such frequency as to be readily seen at any 

 time. The accompanying photograph' (taken on July 8, 1892, from the 

 same position but one day earlier than the one of last year which faces 

 page 13 of volume 2, of the case) shows pups, the mothers of which 

 are at sea. 



The fact that the coat of the cow assumes from residence on the shore 

 a rusty or sunburned aspect gives a ready means ol observing her 

 movements. The rustiness is quickly lost by life in the sea. 



The movements of females can also to a certain extent be well observed 

 by their appearance after giving birth to their pups after fasting and 

 after gorging themselves with food. After the birth of the pup, and 

 after remaining upon the rookeries evea for a few days when the period 

 of coming from and going into the water has been entered upon, the 

 mother has a very decidedly gaunt appearance, in strong contrast to 

 the plumpness of pregnancy or full feeding. After feeding at sea they 

 come ashore again well rounded up. So marked is this that I have 

 been repeatedly misled by mothers in such a condition, mistaking them 

 for pregnant cows, and have discovered my error by seeing her call 

 her pup and suclvle it. If I had any doubt in my mind as to cows feed- 

 ing at sea it was dispelled by an examination of three cows I shot at 

 Northeast Point on July 25, 1892. Two u sunburnt" cows were first 

 killed, and their stomachs were found to be empty. Another was shot 

 just as she came ashore and her stomach was gorged with half-digested 

 codfish, which was identified by Mr. Townsend, an expert of the United 

 States Fish Commission. A dissection was made of this seal, and the 

 udder which extends, as a broad, thick sheet, thinning out toward 

 the edges, over the entire abdominal portion of the cow and well up 

 to the fore flippers was so charged with milk that on removing the skin 

 the milk freely flowed out in all directions, and previous to skinning it 

 was possible with but little effort to extract a sufficient amount to enable 

 me to determine its taste and consistency. A large supply of food is 

 necessary to furnish such an abundant amount of milk. I have no 

 doubt that a well- developed mother seal could yield between a pint and 

 a quart of milk in the first twenty-four hours after landing from a feed- 

 ing expedition, and with such rich fountains to draw upon it is no won- 

 der that the voracious pups increase during their residence upon the 

 island not less than four times their weight at birth. And it is equally 

 certain that without such a constant supply of nourishment they could 

 not make such a rapid growth as they do. 



The presence of excrementitious matter upon the breeding rookeries 

 is recognized both by sight and smell. It is of a yellowish color, and 

 though much of it is excreted, it is of such a liquid consistency that it 

 is quickly rubbed into and mingled with the soil, and thereafter its 

 existence can only be noticed through the discoloration of the soil and 

 the offensive odor. The latter is readily detected at a distance of miles, 

 when the wind is completely impregnated with it. The odor bears no 



1 Not furnished. 



