118 SEALS AND SEA-LIONS 



and devil-fish (Octopus), one or both; and both of which are 

 among the fisherman's enemies! Not one of the twenty -five 

 stomachs which he carefully examined and reported upon con- 

 tained any portion of a scaled fish. 



In 1901, the United States Fish Commission conducted a 

 systematic investigation of the food Jiabits of the Sea-Lions 

 of the Pacific coast, and the report of Messrs. Rutter, Snod- 

 grass and Starks appears in the Report of the Fish Commis- 

 sioner for 1902. At six points on the coast of California, the 

 investigators killed a total of twenty -four specimens of the 

 California Sea-Lion, and eighteen of the Steller Sea-Lion. 

 The report says: 



"Of thirteen California Sea-Lions whose stomachs con- 

 tained food, five had eaten fish and eleven had eaten squid. 

 The quantity of fish was inconsiderable, seventeen small 

 fishes being the maximum, while the remains of one hun- 

 dred to three hundred squid were found in each of five 

 stomachs. 



"All the thirteen Steller Sea-Lions whose stomachs con- 

 tained food had eaten fish, and five had eaten squid, or octo- 

 pus. The number of squid eaten was small, six being the 

 maximum number in one Sea-Lion, while the quantity of fish 

 was large, at least thirty-five pounds being taken from one 

 stomach." 



The detailed report of the kinds of fishes consumed as 

 food by these animals reveals an assortment of very little 

 value, and not one salmon or shad. Professor Dyche's dis- 

 covery that the California Sea-Lion feeds almost exclusively 

 upon squid was fully confirmed, for the twenty -four animals 



