THE FUR-SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA. 137 



Cottus niger.* " Kalog." Coinmou : a beacli cottoicl. 

 Murssnoides maxillaris.* Rare ; a beacli fish. 

 Liparis gibbus.* Itare. 



Gasterosteus cataphraetus. Coiniiioii ; found in lagoon. 

 Gasterosteus pungitius. Coiuiuou ; found in lagoon. 



28. NOTES ON THE INVERTEBRATES. 



Field notes upon the entomology, malacology, botany, etc. — Touching a specific list of the insect life 

 here, 1 regret exc^'edingly that my collections covering this head, as well as those which include the two following 

 orders, have been unaccountably mislaid ; consequently, I shall not reproduce the hastily and naturally imperfect 

 memoranda which I made of them when they were packed on St. Paul island in 1872. 



Limited number of insects on the Pribylov islands. — The variety and abundance of entomological life 

 here is not great, with the marked exception of a few species of beetles and flesh flies on the killiug-grouuds. The 

 green and golden carahus is, liowever, found distributed in great numbers all over the islands. 



Scanty molluscan representation on the seal-islands. — I qualify my statements made at the 

 introduction to this memoir, by saying that the terrestrial and littoral forms of mollusca on and around the Pribylov 

 group are scant in luimber; but I believe that the pelagic life in this respect will be found quite rich. For instance, 

 I never saw any live specimens of the Ncptunianw. All the shells of this character collected had been cast up by the 

 surf and were empty. The largest live gasteropod that came under my notice was a species of Mnrex. As the 

 above sketch plainly shows, the conchologist has not a very extensive field here, though doubtless search bent 

 directly to this end would develop a much better catalogue. If a dredge were patiently and energetically used 

 around these islands, I am very sure that many new forms would be found, Avhich give us tangible evidence of their 

 being, by land and beach hunting for them. My time was so thoroughly engrossed on the rookeries that I had 

 not a single day to spare during the only season of the year in which I could work with my dredge. The rough 

 water and weather that prevail when the seals are not about, prevented my following up the moUusks in this 

 manner. 



Sea eggs, or sea urchins : Toxopneustes. — Frequently the natives have brought a dish of sea urchins' 

 viscera for our table, offering it as a great delicacy. I do not think any of us did more that to taste it. The native 

 women are the chief hunters for EcJiinoida', and during the whole spring and summer seasons they may be seen at 

 both islands, wading in the pools at low water, with their scanty skirts high up, eagerly laying possessive hands upon 

 every "bristling" egg that shows itself. They vary this search by poking, with a short-handled hook, into holes 

 and rocky crevices for a small cottoid fish, which is also found here at low water in this manner. Specimens of this 

 " kalog," which I brought down, declared themselves as representatives of a new departure from all other recognized 

 forms in which the sculpin is known to sport; hence the name, generic and specific, Melletes papilio. 



The "sand-cake", Echinarachnius sp., is also very common here. 



Fine table crab: Chionoecetes. — By the 28th of May to the middle of June, a fine table crab, large, fat, 

 and sweet, with a light, brittle shell, is taken while it is skurrying in and out of the lagoon as the tide ebbs and 

 flows. It is tlie best flavored crustacean known to Alaskan waters; they are taken nowhere else, at St. Paul; 

 and when on St. George I failed to see one. I am not certain as to the accuracy of the season of running, viz, 

 28th May to l.'jth June, inasmuch as that one of my little note-books on which this date is recorded turns out 

 missing at the present writing, and I am obliged to give it from memory. The only economic shell-fish which the 

 islands afford is embodied in the C'hioncecetes opilio (I). The natives affirm the existence of mussels here in abundance 

 Avhen the Pribylov group was first discovered, but now only a small supply of inferior size and quality is to be 

 found. 



Marine skeleton-makers: Beautiful work of sea-fleas. — The service which swarms of Amplddous 

 crustaceam rendered me in cleaning the bones of birds, fish, and even seals, cannot be too liighly eulogized. Only in 

 that small bight, however, known as the "Cove", near the village of St. Paul, could I get the work done; because 

 at no other spot on the Pribylov islands was the sea-water quiet enough. By taking common hard-bread boxes, 

 which the company's agent gave me from the store, and substituting a slatted cover, I would, by rock-ballasting, 

 sink this with fifteen or twenty bird carcasses in the water here at low tide. When a single flow and ebb had taken 

 place, I had the box taken promptly out, never failing to find every skeleton perfectly polished, yet entirely 

 articulated; the most delicate bones in a fish's head or fins were intact. The strong food which the blubber of the 

 seal carcasses aflbrd acts so as to gorge and stupefy these little ghouls of the ocean, for I did not succeed well at all 

 with such attempts. The bones of CaUorhinus would have to lay submerged in the cove for weeks, sometimes, ere 

 they were eaten free of flesh, fat, etc.; then, when taken out, they would be sadly discolored by the salt water, 

 turned black and dingy in streaks and sections. 



*New species. 



