61 



"A little gray P"P. j"8t able to move about yesterday, is now dead on A's shelf. 

 The little half-starved .uray pup noticed trying to tind his mother yesterday is nursing 

 to-day, and has filled out considerably, though he still shows the effects of his fast. 



"The old black bull is lying on the rock from which he put the mother off yester- 

 day. She is on another rock. 



''There is a big wet bull coming up the 'slide' fresh from the water. He is in 

 fine condition, and he toils up slowly. When he gets to E's place he goes over there 

 roaring, routs up and smells of the sleeping .cows. He then moves to the foot of the 

 cliff near the big rock, roaring all the time. The black bull above gets off his stone 

 an<l comes to the edge. They lunge at one another. The black l>ul.i goes back and 

 the wet bull sits down in D's place. I will warrant he belongs there and is D him- 

 self, and that here ar« four of these original bulls back (A, B, C, D). 



^^ September 20. — Several old bulls are in position on the edge of the reef. One is 

 out iu the surf with the pups before the 'slide' acting as though he would land. He 

 did land in a few minutes, but went away again. 



"A heavy surf is coming in here. The pups are evidently afraid of it. When they 

 want to land they dive under a breaker and tlien come in in the spent water. When 

 the returning water begins to let them down on the rocks and another breaker is 

 coming behind them they turn about and dive out under it, coming up in the spent 

 water and swimming in as before. Sometimes they have to go through the process 

 several times. The old cows take a longer time than the pups and are decidedly 

 cautious. The surf this morning is higher tlian I have seen it here. 



"The bulls are lunging at one another and herding up the cows just as in the 

 earlier days, but all their motions are mild and Jacking in the old tire. They 

 evidently realize that there is nothing to fight for. 



"A cow is swimming about in the surf with a pup following her. It is evidently 

 her pup. When they get separated she calls and the little fellow answers. 



'^ September .'9. — Ardiguen was found to contain 78 dead pups. There was 1 cow 

 which was not noted in the previous count. One of the old bulls on the slide 

 refused to go off and kept his position. On nearly every rookery some of these old 

 fellows, returned from feeding, object almost as strongly to being moved now as at 

 the height of the season. An hour afterwards, returning from the Keef, the seals 

 are found back in their old places at the mouth of the slide. ((4. A. C.) 



" Octotjer 1. — The head of the ' slide' was measured, at Mr. Lucas's suggestion, and 

 found to have a total area of 256 feet. Thirty-three cows and 4 ])ups were included. 

 This would give an average of a little less than 8 square feet for each one. 



"Three 'killers' are seen passing along the side of the reef in the direction of 

 Otter Island. There is no special commotion among seals. They are evidently feed- 

 ing, judging from the gulls alighting in their wake. 



"Ardiguen is about as usual. Only 3 cows — no pups or bulls — on the flat above. 

 One starving jmp visible; has only a few days to live. The pups are very large 

 here. Many of them are bigger in every way than the yearlings. 



"It is plainly not true that all the pups turn gi'ay. Many are now in color exactly 

 like the yearlings — the brown ones. These pups are just as large and sometimes 

 larger than the gray ones. There is just the same distinction in the i)ups as in the 

 yearlings, and for that matter the cows themselves — individuality of color. (G. A. C.) 



'^ October 14. — There are no bulls on the U2jper part of Ardiguen, and only 1 or 2 

 cows on the flat. There are 8 bulls lying at the Avater's edge, or rather teasing 

 cows there, for they chase every moving cow that comes near and try to hold her. 

 As a rule she hovers about a minute, biting gently at the bull's neck, and then 

 edges ott'; the bull does not follow. The bulls have evidently just come back from 

 feeding. They are in good condition. It is evident from their actions that if neces- 

 sary they would be able and willing to servo cows. 



"One of the bulls on turning about ])roves to be our old friend A, having his scar 

 and general appearance. He has not been on his shelf since before the count. 



"On account of the rain this morning the bulk of the seals were in the water. 

 Those on laud were perched on stones and holding their heads in the air." (G. A. C.) 



XX. THE THREE FUR SEAL HERDS. 



THE HE!;i>S KXTIRELY DISTINCT. 



The fur-seal herd of the Pribilof Islands does not intermingle iu any way with 

 that of the Commander Islands. The ]iersistence of outline iu the different parts of 

 the individual rookeries indicates that the adult seals, male and female, come back 

 not merely to the same island but as nearly as may be to the same i)lace year after 

 year. In a general way the males on the hauling grounds are projjortionate to the 

 females on the rookeries. When the bachelors are released from the killing grounds, 



