266 



OFFICIAL REPORTS. 



Seals were thick between a and b; between b and c there were only 

 a few scattered seals, while back of c there were no seals, though the 

 ground showed that it had been covered recently, perhaps within the 

 past three or four years. 



/airly well covered- 



4. Cross section at left end of Lukannon Rookery, July 19, 1892 



This is a sandy beach here, used only as a hauling ground by the 

 bachelor seals. The space from a to b was pretty well covered, but 

 back of b toward c there were no seals, though the ground was worn. 



5. Plan of Lukannon Rookery, St. Paul Island. 



The first (dotted) strip along the water front was occupied by seals 

 July 19, 1892; the second strip had no seals upon it except a few near 

 the right end (facing the water); all this space was at one time used 

 as shown by the smooth-worn rocks scattered over the entire area, and 

 the absence of vegetation over the lower part and the coating of algae 

 towards the upper portion. 



Still back of this is a strip of varying width where the rocks are 

 evidently seal worn and the ground covered more or less completely 

 by grass, differing, however, greatly in appearance from the grass 

 found further back where the rocks are not seal worn at all. 



At this time I am confident that not more than two-fifths of the space 

 which has been used on this rookery is now in use. Making full allow- 

 ance for the tendency of the pups and bachelors to wander more or less 

 and thus occupy different spots at different times, I think it would be 

 far within the limit to say that the area now occupied by the seals on 

 this rookery is not more than three-fifths of what it has been in recent 

 years. 



The space now occupied is entirely free of vegetation ; the ground is 

 smooth and hard, and the rocks are all worn smooth. The area, which 

 was apparently used last year, or the year before, but which is not used 

 now, shows the smooth rocks and hard ground, but instead of being 

 bare of vegetation is more or less completely covered with a thin coat- 

 ing or matting of algoid growth. The strip still further back, which 

 evidently was at one time used, is now covered more or less with grass, 

 but it is shorter than is the grass where seals have never hauled, and 

 has a dead or burnt appearance. 



At this left end of this rookery is a sandy beach where bachelor seals 

 haul, but at the time of my first visit there were only a few seals there. 



