60 THE PUR SEALS OP THE PRIBILOP ISLANDS. 



they present in sufficient numbers to indicate that they had been taken as food. In 

 this single instance, a gray pup taken on October 5, the stomach contained remains of 

 150 amphipods, but as the pup was dying from starvation it is evident that he was 

 deriving little or no subsistence from this source. The following record by Mr. Clark 

 shows the number and condition of the pups examined: 



August 29: Pup killed on Lukanin; stomach contained only milk. 



September 11: Male pup accidentally smothered on Kitovi; stomach empty. 



September 22 : Two male pups taken on rooks at the warehouse ; both stomachs contained milk 

 only. 



September 26 : Two large, well-nourished pups, one male and one female, foaud freshly dead from 

 drowning on Lukanin Beach; stomach of female empty; male full of milk only. 



September 28: Pup with deformed nose killed at Zapadni; stomach contained milk only. 



September 30: Large black pup accidentally killed by falling over a cliif ; stomach contained 

 milk only. i 



October 1: Large gray female pup tilled on Gorbatch; stomach contained milk and two small 

 crustaceans. 



October 5 : Starving gray pup in dying condition on the reef killed ; stomach contained a. few 

 crustaceans and several shreds of seaweed. 



October 6: Two pups killed on Tolstoi ; milk only found in their stomachs. 



October 11 : Two large gray male pnps killed on Gorbatch ; stomachs empty. 



October 13: Two pups, male and female, killed on Lukanin; stomach of male empty; of female 

 contained milk only. 



Two large gray pups killed on Kitovi ; stomach of one full of milk ; of the other empty, except for 

 one small tunicate. 



October 14 : Three pups killed on Kitovi. (1) A starving pup, stomach containing one soft-shelled 

 crab; (2) a very small pup, stomach full of milk; (3) a largo gray pup, stomiich empty. 



All stomachs examined contained pebbles. 



October 20: Gray pup shot in water of Zolotoi, playing with seaweed; stomach full of milk; 

 excrement in rectnm and intestines like that seen on beach. 



Not only does the young fur seal feed exclusively on milk, but it feeds on the milk 

 of one cow, and that cow its mother, for the fur seal never knowingly nurses any pup 

 save her own, and although a hungry pup may steal a few mouthfuls of milk from 

 a sleeping cow, it will be promptly detected and cast out. While the female seal 

 apparently cares little for her own offspring, she cares still less for that of another, and 

 any strange pup is repulsed with a snap that plainly indicates the cow's feelings. 



That the mother unerringly recognizes her own offspring can not for a moment 

 be doubted by anyone who has watched the behavior of the females on the rookeries, 

 and while very young pups may respond to the call of a strange cow they respond in 

 vain. The cow will accept only her own pup, which, as among other animals, is recog- 

 nized by scent, and will hunt for half an hour and nose over scores of young seals to 

 find her own. Even after the right pup is found and recognized it is smelt of from 

 time to time, as if the mother were afraid that she had made some mistake and wished 

 to be reassured.' ! 



'The following note will show what chance a pup has of nursing any cow save its mother: 

 "Reef, September 1. I see a little starving pup below me. He is moving about, calling out and 

 nosing about the breasts of sleeping cows. He has tried three, and been driven off with a growl and 

 snap from the waking cow. He wanders some distance ; comes up to a sleeping cow whose pup is either 

 nursing or asleep with his nose at the nipple. The starveling takes hold and evidently nurses for some 

 seconds ; but the cow, as before, wakes and snaps at him with unwonted vigor. Her own pup has 

 been asleep. Evidently she had been misled by the fact of his having recently been sucking. The 

 starveling gives up and lies down," (G. A. Clark.) 



