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