112 Ni:\V YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



less lluin I .ouo miles ai)arl. there is no coinmingliiii;". The former 

 migrates southwest ward in winter along the Asiatic Coast, while 

 the latter migrates southeastward along the American Coast. 

 Upon the discovery of the fur-seal islands of Bering Sea. more 

 than a cenliu'v ago, seals were found in great nnillitndes. l"or 

 man\- \ears tluw wert' killed indiseriminateh . but the Kussian 

 Go\ernnient linallx took charge of them and directed the fisheries 

 in such a way that they were regularly ])roductive. The Pribilof 

 Islands, for twent\- _\ears after the accession of Alaska, yielded 

 to the I'nited States Government in the taxes on sealskins alone, 

 more than S7.000.000. the price paid for the entire Territory of 

 Alaska. About twent\ years ago the practice of pelagic sealing — 

 the killing of seals in the open sea— devel(J])ed into an extensive 

 industry, since which time the supply of seals has steadily de- 

 creased. 



.\lthongh during the winter months the fur-seal herds migrate 

 into tlu' Pacific Ocean. the\- are in summer located on their an- 

 ciently estal)lished brt'eding ])laces in llering ."^ea. Under gov- 

 ernment superxision a certain munber of seals on the islands is 

 selected for killing, in acc<»rdance with the natural hal)its of the 

 animals. J'ur seals arc highl\- polvgamous; every adult male 

 takes possession of a large number of females, the number vary- 

 ing from one dtizen to 100 in rxtreme cases. This highly ])<»ly- 

 gamous habit naturalK- results in a large sur])lus of males, which 

 sm'plns. when the rookeries were in their best condition, amounted 

 to about 100,000 immature males a year on the I'ribilofs and 

 over 35,000 a year on the C\:)mmauders. These half-grown males 

 herd by themselves, and it is from them that the annual catch of 

 seals on the islands has alwa\s bt-en madr. Tlu- I'nited States 

 and Kussian gowrnments have ne\er allowed any disturbing of 

 the Ijreeding rookeries and have nexcr permitted the killing of 

 female seals. The breeding stock ujxin the islands has there- 

 fore remained midisturbed and would, but for the international 

 nuisance of pelagic sealing, haw \ ielded fore\i'r a world >upply 

 of fur sealskins. This mi-tho(l of sealing. ;is h;is been stated, is 

 practiced in the f)])en sea. and ])ri-mits n\ no st'lrctious being made. 

 I'emale seals constituti' b\ far tlir gnatrr ])art of the pelagic 

 catch. In ten vears pelagic si'aling in the adjacml w.nns .ind 

 in the I'acific Ocean destrowd thr v.ilur of tin- I'ribilof and I om- 

 mander islands as governmriit pro])(riiis. Adjacent to r;uh 

 breeding rookerv on these islands lie the so-called '■hauling 

 grr)un(ls" r)f the immature males — the class of st-als available for 

 killing. The latter are (piietly surroimded, and willi'Mit dilticullv 



