DISAPPEARANCE OF DEAD PUPS. 167 
MANY EARLY DEAD PUPS DISAPPEARED. 
In considering this count, however, several facts must be noted. It was found 
that a large number of the pups originally counted in August had wholly disappeared 
or been reduced to loose bones. This was particularly true on the sandy areas and 
where the dead lay in the route of the living seals as they passed back and forth to 
the sea. An effort was made to establish a correction for this loss, and 20 per cent! 
of the original number counted in August was fixed upon as likely to cover as nearly 
as could then be determined bodies which had so disappeared. Making allowance 
for this correction the total number of starved pups, as shown by the enumeration, 
would be increased to 12,392. 
STARVING PUPS. 
It was further evident from the outset that all the pups about to die of starvation 
had not yet died. It was impossible, however, to delay the count longer, and so, to 
overcome this new difficulty, an effort was made to count the starving pups among 
the healthy ones as they were driven from the rookery preparatory to the counting of 
the dead. The best estimate, which was a very unsatisfactory one, gave 1,546 as the 
number of pups whose appearance indicated that they were certain to starve. This 
number was doubtless very inadequate, as later observations on the rookeries in the 
same season showed that pups continued to starve until as late as the 20th of October, 
twenty days after the count was completed on St. Paul Island. Makiug, however, the 
addition of the dying pups just mentioned, as shown by the actual count, we have the 
number of deaths justly chargeable to starvation increased to 13,930. 
THE WORK OF THE FOXES. 
Another fact in connection with the actual count must be noted. On the Island 
of St. George, as already indicated, the total number of dead pups found in October 
was 897. In August the number found was 735. On some of the rookeries of this 
island, however, a much smaller number of dead was found in October than was 
found in August. The condition of the St. George rookeries was so peculiar that we 
may give here in detail both counts. They are as follows: 
DEAD PUPS, ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 
Dead pups,| Total dead 
Rookery. August, ups, Octo- 
‘ ie 1806.” | ber 6, 1898. 
259 145 
135 194 
199 527 
112 45 
31 16 
736 897 
1The investigations of 1897 show clearly that this estimate of 20 per cent to cover the disap- 
pearance of dead bodies between August and October is far below the facts. Our experiences with 
Kitovi and Lukanin in 1897 would indicate that 50 per cent would not have been an excessive 
estimate. Many of the carcasses are washed away in the storms. Every one on which the skin is 
- broken is quickly reduced to bones by the gulls and foxes. Furthermore, many bodies are necessarily 
overlooked as they lie hidden among the rocks. 
