THE RUSSIAN FUR-SEAL ISLANDS. 
21 
the recolonization of the island the otters were found common in places ; thus it is 
said that in 1827 no less than 200 otters were killed in one week at the Reef near the 
present Nikolski village (Slunin, Promysl. Kamch. Sakli. Komand. Ostr., 1805, p, 
103). But the reckless slaughter of former days was resumed and the sea-otter 
long ago ceased to he a regular inhabitant of that island. Occasionally a solitary 
individual strays over from Copper Island, where the same careful management 
which resulted in the increase of the fur-seal has succeeded in preserving and increas- 
ing the sea otter to such an extent that I believe there is no other jilace in the world 
where so many sea-otters can be seen at the present day. The condition of the herd 
is now such that 200 animals can be killed off yearly without detriment. The i>laces 
where the sea-otter have their rookeries are constantly guarded, to keep intruders 
off. Shooting, making tire, or smoking is strictly prohibited near these places. Only 
nets are now used to capture the otters; and if any females or yearlings are caught 
alive they must be set free. The number to be taken is determined in advance by the 
administration, and the hunting exi)editions of the natives are undertaken in common, 
under the leadership of the chief, though each hunter keeps the otter he secures. 
They are taken off their hands by the Russian Government at a certain fixed price. 
Of other marine mammals occurring at the Commander Islands, we may further 
mention four species of hair-seals, viz, Phoca largha, foetida^ gra'nJandlca, {mdfasciaia; 
three species of ziphioid whales, viz, Ziphius grehnitzMi, Berardius hairdil, and il/cso- 
2 )lod(m stejnegeri-, a sperm whale {Physeter macroeeplialus)] several delphiuoid whales, 
among which the terrible enemy of the fur-seal, the killer {Orca gladiator)^ as well as 
several species of fin-back whales. 
The land mammals are few, the most important being the Arctic fox {Yulpes 
lagoptis). These animals, which are now fairly common, yielding a handsome income to 
the natives, belong almost exclusively to the dark-bluish phase. Their economic 
importance will be treated of elsewhere in this report. 
There are two rodents on Bering Island, but both have been introduced by the 
agency of man during late years. Mus musculiis, the common house-mouse, was brought 
to Bering Island in 1870 by the schooner Justus, in a cargo of Hour. The short-tailed 
red field-mouse (tlficTotiJ.s' rutilus), which now overruns the islands in vast numbers, was 
introduced from Kamchatka at a much later date, xu'obably with the firewood. This 
is probably also the origin of the bats [VespertiUo?) which are said to have been seen 
at Nikolski during the last couple of years. 
The introduction of the reindeer {Bangifer tarandus) will be mentioned elsewhere 
(p. 33). 
BIRDS. 
I have reported upon the birds in a separate volume (Results of Ornithological 
Exi)lorations in the Commander Islands and in Kamtschatka. By Leonhard Stejueger. 
Bull. No. 29, U. !S. Nat. Mus. 1885; 382 + § plates) and in a later sniiplementary 
Iiax)er (Revised and Annotated Catalogue of the Birds Inhabiting the Commander 
Islands; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1887, i)i>. 117-145 -f 3 plates), to which I would refer 
the reader for detailed information. In the last-mentioned paper I enumerated 143 
species of birds as having been collected in the Commander Islands. To these I can 
now add three s^iecies, viz: (1) Oavia alba, the ivory gull, a specimen of which Mr. 
Grebnitski xiresented to me ( C. S. Nat. Mus., No. 151983) ; (2) E^irynorhyiivhus pygma'us, 
the spoon-bill sandxiixier, two specimens of which were shot during the latter xiart of 
