2 PARKER— THE PROBLEM OF ADAPTATION. [April 23, 



to sixty cows, and the range extended from harems containing one 

 cow to some that contained over a hundred. Because of the many- 

 years of commercial kilHng, chiefly directed against the males, it is 

 impossible to state what the size of the normal average harem should 

 be, but probably not far from one bull to thirty or forty cows. 



Within a short time after the arrival of the cow, in the harem, 

 i. e., within a few days or a week or so, she gives birth to a single 

 young or pup. So far as is known, cows do not produce more than 

 one pup at a time. Shortly after the birth of her pup, the cow goes 

 into heat, pairs with the bull, and becomes pregnant again. As 

 these are annual occurrences, the period of gestation in the fur seal 

 must be a few days less than a year. The pups are born males and 

 females in about equal numbers. The counts of former years, as 

 well as those of 1914, show a slight predominance of males, the 

 excess being from a little over two per cent, to about seven per cent, 

 of the total births. 



The breeding season closes toward the end of July or early in 

 August and this close is marked by the disintegration of the harems. 

 During August most of the bulls begin their migrations back to the 

 Pacific, and the pups, which heretofore have remained on the 

 beaches, begin to take to the sea. They and the cows stay about 

 the islands till November, when they too start on their migration to 

 the open ocean. The only important constituent of the herd that 

 has not yet been mentioned is the class known as the bachelors, i. e., 

 the young males that have not yet attained to breeding. The bache- 

 lors move with the cows, arriving for the most part in June and 

 July, and departing in November, though some are found on the 

 islands in December or even later. The bachelors do not mingle on 

 the beaches with the rest of the herd, but gather to one side of the 

 breeding grounds proper in the so-called bachelors hauling grounds, 

 where they lead an idle rollicking existence suggested by their name. 



The maximum age of the fur seal is believed to be about twelve 

 to fourteen years for both males and females. In the migration, 

 the males return to the islands approximately in the sequence of 

 their ages ; the old bulls arrive first in May and June followed by 

 the younger bulls and bachelors and lastly by the yearling males, 

 which arrive in the latter part of July and in August. The year- 



