308 ZALOPHUS CALIFORNIANUS CALIFOENIAN SEA LION. 



to ooze out all over her. As soon as slie got into the crate 

 with the young one, she commenced rolling, so that in a short 

 time the young one and the inside of the crate were completely 

 covered with it. The calf seemed to enjoy it hugely, and rolled 

 about until his coat glistened as if he had just left the hands of 

 a first-class tonsorial artist. It instantly struck me that his 

 mother had been preparing him for the water, and I immedi- 

 ately tested the matter by taking him out and i^lacing him on 

 the edge of the pond, when in a few moments he began to pad- 

 dle about in the water, something he had never before attemjjted 

 altliough he had been almost daily jjlaced in the same posi- 

 tion. 



"As soon as the large basin was completed, and they were 

 transferred to it, I had a fine opportunity of observing the 

 tyrannical attentions of the male toward the female during rut- 

 ting season. He constantly swam back and forth along the 

 partition, which separated him from another male, frequently 

 endeavoring to get through, splintering and tearing the rails 

 with his powerful canine teeth. If the female attempted to 

 approach the division she was immediately forcibly driven back, 

 when he would redouble his efforts to get through, barking and 

 roaring as if beside himself with rage. This would be kept ui) 

 until late at night, when the female was allowed to go into the 

 house situated in the centre of the basin, when he would follow 

 and place himself immediately in the doorway so as to prevent 

 her egress. He never seemed to sleep soundly, as he invaria- 

 bly kept up a series of grunts and muffled roars, as if he were 

 fighting his battles over again in his sleep. I would frequently 

 annoy him by stealing up softly and then suddenly scraping 

 the gravel with my foot, when he would instantly start up, 

 plunge into the basin, swim rapidly back and forth, barking 

 with all his might, until he was satisfied there was no interloper 

 about, when he would sullenly return to his post and gradu- 

 ally drop off again into his troubled sleep. Frequently at 

 night the two males would climb to the roof of the house, 

 and in their efforts to get at each other through the partition, 

 would raise such a din that persons living at quite a distance 

 from the garden would frequently ask me the cause of the 

 uproar. 



"At the end of some two months there was a change, when 

 the female commenced playing and coquetting with the male, 

 frequently pinching him so sharply as to make him snarl with 



