. Mammals of other lands;. Mammals. MARINE CARNIVORA 121 herds during the breeding-season, and of spending a long period on land after the young are born. The male seals reach the islands, or " rookeries," first, followed by the females. The latter give birth to their young almost as soon as they reach the rocks, and are then seized and gathered into harems by the strongest and oldest males. The sea-lions of Patagonia, equally with the fur-seals of Bering Sea and the Pribylofif Islands, never feed during the whole time which they spend on the rocks, often for a period of two months.
. Mammals of other lands;. Mammals. MARINE CARNIVORA 121 herds during the breeding-season, and of spending a long period on land after the young are born. The male seals reach the islands, or " rookeries," first, followed by the females. The latter give birth to their young almost as soon as they reach the rocks, and are then seized and gathered into harems by the strongest and oldest males. The sea-lions of Patagonia, equally with the fur-seals of Bering Sea and the Pribylofif Islands, never feed during the whole time which they spend on the rocks, often for a period of two months. The Fur-seals. The Northern Fur-seal is the only member of this group surviving in any number. These animals still annually resort to the Aleutian Islands, in the territory of Alaska, in great herds to produce their young, and to certain other islets off the coast of Japan. This northern fur-seal, from the fur of which the sealskin jackets are obtained, is, when full grown, between 6 and 7 feet long. The females are only 4 feet or 4^ feet in length. The shoulder of the male is gray, the rest of the body varying between reddish gray and deep black. The female is lighter in colour. Males of this species are not full grown till six years of age, but breed when four years old. The females produce young at three years of age. The male seals take possession of the females almost immediately after reaching the breeding grounds, each male collecting as many females as it can round it The pups keep with their mothers. This assemblage is surrounded by great numbers of young male or bachelor seals, which the old males prevent from annexing any of the females. The greatest of all these gathering-places are on the Pribyloff Islands and certain other islets in Bering Sea. By the end of May both male and female seals swim in flocks through Bering Straits, making for the islands. The islands themselves are leased to American merchants. But as those seals killed on the way are all just about to
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Keywords: ., bookauthorco, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmammals
