10 



III. THE FUR SEAL CALENDAR. 



asc'd upou the records iu the log, ]872-1896, and on observations made the present season.] 



Close season for pelagic sealing begins May 1 and ends July 31. 



Arrival of tirst bulls ranges between April 15 and May 6. 



Arrival of lirst bachelor, March 1 to May 14. 



Arrival of mass of hulls, May 15 to .June 1. 



Arrival of tirst cows, .June 5 to .June 16 (one season May 17). 



Birth of first pup, .June 10 to .Tune 18 (one recorded May 21). 



First food drive, April 3't to June 4 (one recorded March 17; two in February). 



Rookeries at their height, .July 6 to 16. 



Birth of majority of pups, June 10 to July 1. 



Greatest death rate of tram))led pups, July 1 to 10. 



Pups begin to pod, June 20 to .July 1. 



Arrival of iirst 2-year-(dd cow, July 27. 



Formation of harems of 2-year-olds,. July 30 to August 10. 



Last drive for skins takes place .July 14 to August 4. 



Arrival of first yearling cow, August 1. 



Arrival of body of yearling females, August 10 to 15. 



Pelagic sealing begins August 1. 



Pui)s begin to swim July 27 to August 5. 



Bulls grow mild so that rookery can be entered, August 5 to 15. 



Last pup born, August 14. 



Best time to count ])ups, August 15 to 20. 



Last food drive, Dcteniber 6 to February 8. 



Last copulation noticed, August 27. 



Pups begin to die from starvation through ]ielagic sealing, August 10 to 15. 



Bulls begin to leave, August 5 to Se)>tember 1. 



Seal fur is stagy, August 15 to Octnbcr 20. 



Idle bulls enter rookeries, August 5. 



Formation of false harems by half bulls, August 10 to 20. 



Pups swim Jong distances from rookery, August 26 to September 15. 



Pups be.iiin to turn gray, .September 1 to 8. 



Best time to brand iiui)s. .September 10 to 20. 



Adult liulls return from feeding grouiuls, .September 15 to 20. 



Starved pups all dead, Octolier 20. 



Pelagic sealing ends, Se])tember 15 to October 1. 



Weaning of pups, time of dejtarture. 



De)>arture of cows, November 5 to 15. ' 



Departure of pups. November 5 to 15. 



Dejiarture of bulls, when winter drives them. 



Dejiarture of half bulls, when winter drives them. 



Departure of bachelors, when winter drives them. 



IV. THE FUR SEAL, OR SEA BEAR. 



The "fur seal'' or '-sea bear," known in science as CaUorhiiuts nrsiuxs, is resident 

 only on certain i.slands in Bering and Okhotsk seas, all of these islands having been 

 unknown to aboriginal man, and none of them having been visited by man so far as 

 known before the discovery of Bering and Jledui islands by Vitus Bering iu 1741, 

 and that of St. George Island by Gerassim Pribilof in 1786. 



The species known as the " fur seal '' forms three distinct herds, which do not inter- 

 mingle with each other in any way, the individuals of each type being distinguishable 

 from the others by several characters of importance. 



THE THREE HERDS. 



The most important of these is the American or Alaskan herd living on the two 

 islands of the Pribilof group — St. J^iul and St. George. Next to this comes the 

 Eussian herd of the Komandorski or Commander islands, Bering and Medni (Cop- 

 per) islands. The third herd is that of Okhotsk Sea, resident on Kobben Island, 

 "where a remnant still remains, and formerly having rookeries also on three islands 

 of the Kurile group — Musir, Kaikoke, and Srednoi. The rookeries on these islands 

 are now, however, virtually extini't. 



The American herd remains at its home on the Pribilof Islands during the sum- 

 mer, the individuals going out at intervals to feed over a radius of about 200 miles. 

 In November they are driven away by the approach of winter, going southward in the 

 oijen sea, returning northward near the coast, the range of their movements extend- 



