138 THE ASIATIC FDR-SEAL ISLANDS. 



The photograph by Voloshinof (pi. 27a), taken in 1885, unfortunately is not very clear, 

 but there is enough in it to show that the breeding area, so far as it can be seen from 

 the direction of the salt-house, has shrank comparatively little. My photographs 

 (pi. 21) were taken from practically the same standpoint as the sketch and Voloshinof s 

 photograph, and they afford as good a comparison as can be expected from photographs 

 taken at such a distance. Those taken from a somewhat different standpoint, viz, 

 from the driveway (pi. 22), give perhaps a better idea of the rookery, small as they are. 



The map representing the seal grounds in 1883 (pi. 94) was sketched on August 

 21 and shows the distribution of the seals on that date— hence the lack of definiteness 

 to 'the areas of red and the extension of the bachelor seals into the grass-covered area. 

 The map showing the location of the seals in 1895 (pi. 95), however, represents the seals 

 as they were located July 17 and 19. 



At Kisliotohnaya I found the same state of affairs as on the Eeef, only that the 

 patch had shrunk still more and the seals apparently covered the ground less densely 

 than on the Eeef. This last observation, however, is not to be relied upon, as the 

 breeding ground can be looked down upon from a much greater elevation (70 feet), 

 though at a greater distance. Bachelor seals in small numbers hauled out on the 

 outer rocks and in among the females in the rear of the rookery, but the center of the 

 "parade" ground was deserted all summer, and never a seal entered the posterior 

 third of the latter, now covered with a scanty growth of tufted grass. 



It was at once apparent that there was a low percentage of bulls on both rookeries, 

 though at the Reef I afterwards found that the condition was not quite so bad as I first 

 was led to believe. Upon my third visit to the rookery, when the wind was favorable 

 for approaching it from the west side, I discovered that there were a good many more 

 bulls proportionately to the females on that side than on the eastern half, which 

 is the one first reached and most commonly seen. The formation of the ground made 

 it utterly impossible to make a reliable estitnate of the average number of females to 

 each bull by counting a sufficient number of harems. At Kishotchnaya, however, 

 the opportunities were more favorable, and on July 16 I averaged at the south end of 

 that rookery about 50 females to a bull, while at the northern end the harems appeared 

 smaller, most of those counted containing 15 to 25 females. A great many females 

 were in the water that day, however; so in all probability the whole rookery averaged 

 no less than 40 females to the bull. This proportion did not seem to be the result of 

 or to have caused any lack of vigor in the males, for there was quite a number of large 

 half-bulls skirting the rookery or hauled out on the outlying rocks, looking longingly 

 toward the breeding grounds. 



The greater falling off in this rookery was due to the decrease in the number of 

 bachelors. But instead of affecting all classes this diminution was chiefly confined to 

 the younger ones. Last summer all the skins were weighed individually on a spring 

 balance as the killing went on, and an accurate tally kept. I submit below a table of 

 weights of the skins taken in 13 drives between July 14 and September 13, 1895. From 

 this it will be seen that no single skin under 7 pounds was taken, and of this weight 

 only 235 skins; that in 4 drives not a skin under 8 pounds occurred; that in none of 

 the drives was the average weight less than 9.7 pounds; that of 6,725 skins, 5,558 

 weighed 9 pounds and over; and that the average weight of these 6,725 skins was 

 10.3 pounds. This table is also very interesting, showing how uniform was the size 

 of the animals driven during the whole period of two months. Its true significance, 



