THE NOETHEIiN FUE SEAL OE SEA BEAE. 49 



howls like the animal at the Parallones or Santa Barbara. Young and old, both sexes, from one 

 year and upward, have only a deep bass growl, and prolonged, steady roar; while at San Francisco 

 Sea Lions break out incessantly with a 'honking' bark or howl, and never roar." 



The California Sea Lion is now a somewhat well-known animal with the public, various individ- 

 uals having been at different times on exhibition at the Central Park Menagerie in New York City, 

 and at the Zoological Gardens at Philadelphia and Cincinnati, as well as Woodward's Gardens 

 in Sao Francisco. They have also formed part of the exhibition of different traveling shows, 

 especially that of P. T. Barnum. They have also been carried to Europe, where examples have 

 lived for several years at the Zoological Gardens of London, Paris, and elsewhere. Their peculiar 

 "honking" bark, referred to by Mr. Elliott, is hence not unfamiliar to many who have nevcf met 

 with the animal in a state of nature. Their various attitudes and mode of life on the Farallones 

 have also been made familiar to many by the extensive sale of stereoscopic views of the animals 

 and their surroundings. The Sea«Lions that have been exhibited in this country all, or nearly all, 

 belong to the present species, although often wrongly labeled '■' Ewnetopias Stelleri." The true U. 

 Stelleri has, however, at least in one instance, been exhibited in Eastern cities. 



22. THE NOETHEBN FUR SEAL OR SEA BEAR. 



Geogeaphical distribution and migkation. — The Fur Seal, Gallorhinus ursinus (Linn^) 

 Gray, is well known to have been formerly abundant on the western coast of North America, 

 as far south as California, but the exact southern limit of its range I have been unable to 

 determine. Captain Scammon speaks of having seen them " on one of the San Benito Islands, on 

 the coast of Lower California," and again says, " On the coast of California many beaches were 

 found fronting gullies, where [Fur] Seals in large numbers formerly gathered ; and, as they *here 

 had plenty of ground to retreat upon, the sealers sometimes drove them far enough back to make 

 sure of the whole herd, or that portion of them the skins of which were desirable."' He also states 

 that the " Fur Seal and Sea Elephant once made the shores [of Guadalupe Island] a favorite re- 

 sorting place," and refers to their former occurrence on Cedros Island, in latitude 28°.^ Although 

 at one time abundant on the California coast, they are by no means numerous there now, having 

 been nearly exterminated by unrestricted destruction by the st alers. The wiitcr above cited refers 

 also to their capture by the Indians at the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Seals appear 

 here and on the neighboring coast, he adds, " some years as early as the first of March, and more 

 or less remain till July or August; but they are most plentiful in April and May. During these 

 two months the Indians devote nearly all their time to sealing when th« weather will permit." He 

 reports their increase there in later years, and that while only a few dozens were annually taken 

 there from 1843 to 1864, fully fliv e thousand were taken in 1869.^' Captain Bryant has given a 

 similar report, referring especially to their abundance along the coasts of Oregon, Washington Ter- 

 ritory, and British Columbia in 18C9, as compared with former years. He says those taken "were 

 mostly very young Seals, none appearing to be over a year old. Formerly in March and April the 

 natives of Paget Sound took large numbers of pregnant females,^ but no places where they have 

 resorted to breed seem to be known off this coast." He thinks it probable, however, that they 

 may occupy rocky ledges off shore which are rarely visited by boats.^ In his MS. report just 



' Scammon, C. M. : The Marine Mammals of the Northwestern Coast, Sea., pp. 1,52, 154. 

 ^BiioWNE, J. Ross: Resources of the Pacific Slope, second part, p. 138. 

 'ScAMMOsr, C. M. : The Marine Mammals of the Northwestern Coast, &o., p. 154. 



■* There are six skulls in the National Museum from Puget Sound and the neighboring coast (collected at several 

 different points by Messrs. Scammon and Swau), aU of whicli arc females. 

 'BuUetiu Museum Comparative Xocilogy, ii, p. 88. 



4 P 



