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a menagerie. I'm sure I can hear sheep!" "Can't tell the cry of a cow fur seal from the bleating of an old sheep," was the reply. "The pup seal 'baa-s' just like a lamb, too. Funny, sometimes. On one of the smaller islands one year we had a flock of sheep. Caused us all sorts of trouble. The sheep would come running into the seal nurseries looking for their lambs when they heard a pup seal crying. The lambs would mistake the cry of the cow seal for the bleating of their mothers." "Why do you call the mother seal a cow seal?" asked the boy. "Usual name," was the reply. "Then why is a baby seal a pup?" asked Colin bewildered. "I should think it ought to be called a calf!" The Fisheries official laughed. "Seal language is the most mixed-up lingo I know," he said. "Mother seal is called a 'cow,' yet the baby is called a 'pup.' The cow seals are kept in a 'harem,' which usually means a group of wives. The whole gathering is called a 'rookery,' though there are no rooks or other birds around. The big 'bull' seals are sometimes called 'Sea-Catches' or 'Beachmasters.' The two-year-olds and three-year-olds are called 'Bachelors.' The 'pups,' too, have their 'nurseries' to play in." But Colin still looked puzzled. "Our gunner was talking about 'holluschickie'?" he said. "Are those a different kind of seal?" "No," was the reply, "that's the old Russian-native name for bachelors. There are a lot of native words for seals, but we only use that one and 'kotickie' for the pups." "If the cow seals bleat," said Colin, "and the pups 'baa' like a lamb, what is the cry of the beachmaster?" "He makes the most noise," the agent said. "Never stops. Can you hear a long hoarse roar? Sounds like a lion!" "Of course I can hear it," the boy answered; "I thought that must be a sea-lion." "A sea-lion's cry is deeper and not so loud," his friend replied. "No. That roar is the bull seal's challenge. You're near enough to hear a sort of gurgling growl?" "Yes," said Colin, "I can catch it quite clearly." "That's a bull talking to himself. Then there's a whistle when a fight is going on. When they're fighting, too, they have a spitting cough. Sounds like a locomotive starting on a heavy grade. Precisely!" "Do they fight much?" the boy asked. "Ever so often!" his informant replied. "Can't you hear the puffing? That shows there's a fight going on. I've seldom seen a rookery without a mix-up in progress. That is, duri
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