THE KURIL ISLANDS 
13 
mings. The bears ( Ursus arctos) of the northern 
islands are identical with those of Kamchatka ; there 
appear to be two varieties—a black and a brown. 
The bear of the southern islands is of a different 
species; Siebold in his “Fauna Japonica” calls it TJ. 
ferox. They were very numerous on both Kunashir 
and Yetorup in the early seventies, but are now 
comparatively scarce. The foxes of the central and 
northern islands are particularly fine, the red, silver, 
black, and cross, being among the varieties found. 
Of marine mammals, the sea-otter (Latax lutris) 
and fur-seal ( Otaria ursina) were the most important, 
but these have been nearly exterminated. The 
first-named is found all along the chain from Kuna¬ 
shir to Shumshir. Fur-seal rookeries existed on 
Srednoi, Raikoke, Mushir, and Makanruru—on the two 
latter very small ones. These have, however, been 
completely wiped out. Sea-lions ( Otaria stelleri) are 
numerous; there were eighteen large breeding 
rookeries of these animals on the islands, but even 
these comparatively valueless animals have been 
very much reduced in numbers. The black sea- 
lion ( Otaria gillespii) also frequents the islands, but 
in small numbers ; whilst the Australian species is 
occasionally met with at sea, but I have never 
found any hauled out on the rocks. Hair-seals 
(Phoca vitulina) are plentiful; whales, black fish, 
killers, and porpoises, are numerous in the waters 
adjacent to the islands. Birds are represented by 
about 170 species. In the spring and summer, the 
central islands more particularly are visited by vast 
numbers of auks, guillemots, puffins, fulmars, gulls, 
petrels, and other sea-birds, which resort to them 
for the purpose of nidification. 
