416 



THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



Gulls pick out the eyes of pups, or at least of many pups, soon after they die, but 

 I am in doubt as to whether they pick out the eyes of living pups, much less kill them. 

 In the case of very young pups this might be possible were it not for the fact that 

 when the pups are young the harems are full and the mothers of the pups near them. 

 The mere presence of the mother is a source of protection, though as a rule the female 

 seems very indifferent to its offspring. 



COLONEL MURRAY'S COUNT. 



Colonel Murray reports the following completed count of harem and idle bulls 

 for the rookeries of the two islands : 



July 18 

 16 

 13 

 13 

 14 

 22 

 16 

 16 

 16 



July 29' 

 30 

 30 



Aug. 1 



Kookery. 



Northeast Point . 

 Halfway Point'.. 



Lukaniu 



Kitovi 



Reef' 



Lagoon 



Tolstoi 



English Bay 3.... 

 Zapadni 



Total . 



ST. QEOEQE. 



East 



Staraya AxteL 



North , 



Zapadni 



Total, St. George . 

 Total, St. Paul . . . 



Grand total, 1896 . 

 Grand total, 1895 . 



Decrease - 

 Increase . 



1,595 

 285 

 205 

 190 

 900 

 115 

 325 

 100 

 477 



4,192 



179 



75 



225 



182 



661 

 4,192 



4,853 

 5,000 



Idle 

 bulls. 



1,096 

 254 

 125 



■ 100 

 411 

 40 

 220 

 111 

 '310 



2,666 



55 

 75 

 110 

 100 



330 

 2,666 



2,996 

 2,800 



1 Polovina and Little Polorina. 



2 This includes Gorbatch and Keef rookeries. 



"The breeding ground we have designated Zapadni Eeef. The discrepancy here between Colonel Murray's count 

 and that of Dr. Jordan {176), is so great as to suggest that the former count, made from the shore in the rear, is not so 

 accurate as the latter, made from a boat in front. 



*From the results of the investigations of 1897 we are led to doiibt the value of counts of harems made after the 

 25th of July. 



AUGUST 15. 

 COUNT OP LIVE PUPS. 



Dr. Jordan and Mr. Clark made a count of the live pups on Kitovi rookery. The 

 method employed was to cut off a pod of about 100 pups or less and run them oft' 

 from the main body until they were strung out in a narrow liue that could be counted. 

 As soon as one pod was counted a second was run off, and this process repeated until 

 the whole rookery was covered. The pups would ordinarily have taken to the water, 

 but a tremendous surf was running directly against the rookery front, preventing 

 their doing so. The result of the count can not be more than a hundred out of the 

 way, and is, if anything, an underestimate. 



Beginning at the south end of the rookery to Kitovi Point there were 649 pups. 

 To the grassy wall of cliffs at the middle of Kitovi there were 2,244. To the great 

 green cliff, 922. To the beginning of the great amphitheater, 1,049. To the end of 



