326 



MAMMALS 



Once a year all the seals, young and old, repair to the 

 Pribilof Islands in the Behring Sea. The males arrive first 

 in April and May, and in June the females begin to come. 

 Certain suitable irjcky shores of these islands that are 

 literally covered with the seals are known as the " rook- 

 eries." In 1870 there were estimated to be several million 

 seals on the Pribilof Islands, but the number is rapidly 

 diminishing. The bachelor seals, or " holluschickie," 

 are the only ones now allowed to be slain, and it is these 

 that furnish the skins for the market. 



By October antl November, the great majority of the 

 seals have left the islands, not to return until the following 

 spring. The time between the visits is spent in the 0])en 

 ocean, the seals seldom, if ever, touching land in all this 

 time. 



Walruses. — These are aquatic mammals of .strange ap- 

 pearance and peculiar habits (Fig. 214). A male walrus is 



Fig, 214. — Walrus, 



a huge beast, ten to twelve feet long and weighing from 

 eighteen hundred to two thousand pounds. The canine 

 teeth are dexeloped into huge tusks sometimes two feet 



