ZOOLOGICAL 
SCRATCHING THE NECK WITH A FRONT FLIPPER. 
the Kurile Islands. The south- 
ern fur-seals belong to a dif- 
ferent genus, Arctocephalus. 
The most northerly represen- 
tative of this genus is A. 
townsend: from the Guada- 
lupe and other small islands 
of Lower California. Other 
species are A. philippi of the 
Galapagos Islands, 4. austra- 
lis of Lobos Islands at the 
mouth of La Plata River and 
A. delalandi of South Africa. 
In the autumn of 1909 a 
pair of young pups was 
brought by the United States 
Bureau of Fisheries to the 
small aquarium in Washing- 
ton where they have thrived. 
As a result of the success in 
rearing this pair, six more 
were brought from St. Paul 
Island the past November and 
distributed as follows: one 
pair to Golden Gate Park, one 
pair to the Washington Zoo- 
logical Park and the third pair 
to the New York Aquarium. 
The pair presented to the Aquarium arrived 
on November 23, and being the first fur-seals 
ever exhibited in New York City, they have 
naturally attracted much attention. At the time 
of their arrival they could not have been more 
than five months old and their combined weight 
was forty-three pounds; the male being about 
three pounds heavier than the female. They 
were placed in one of the large floor pools where 
the female proceeded at once to make herself at 
home, swimming actively about and taking food 
at the first opportunity. The little male did not 
appear to be in such good condition, as he swam 
but little and took no food for a couple of days. In 
SOCIETY BULLETIN. 
THEY ARE WITHOUT FEAR OF 
ATTENDANT AND WILL EAT FROM 
HIS HAND. 
733 
a few days, however, he seemed to entirely recov- 
er and was as active and fed as well as his mate. 
For the first week or so both seals spent most 
of their waking hours scratching themselves, 
often rolling over and over in the water during 
this performance, much to the amusement of the 
spectators. During the first few days the male 
slept much of the time, floating at the surface 
with just the tip of his nose out of the water, 
and many were the solicitous inquiries as to what 
was the matter with him. Some of our kind- 
hearted visitors even went to the extent of hunt- 
ing up attendants to inform them that one of 
the seals was very ill. 
Although fresh water is en- 
tirely unknown to the seals in 
nature, except for the rain 
which falls on them at their 
breeding grounds, they do not 
seem to require salt water, but 
have been given a salt water 
bath once a week. 
They have been fed twice 
a day on pieces of fish, cut in- 
to strips; cod and herring be- 
ing used for the purpose. 
They are entirely without 
fear of the attendant and will 
come upon the platform and 
eat from his hand, though 
they seem to prefer to take 
the food in the water.  Inci- 
dentally, I may mention that 
the attendant prefers to feed 
them in the latter way, as 
they are treacherous animals 
and bite without any warning. 
One experience of the ability 
of their needle-like teeth to 
pierce flesh and rend cloth- 
ing was sufficient to convince 
their guardian that young fur- 
seals do not make comfortable 
THE 
FRIGHTENED BY THE FLASH-LIGHT. 
