Translation 2783

..... 113
The moultin^; period begins when r!iltinf; ends. ::aultili,-, then
tahes place in seals of all a^,e f.;rou_ls except yount; of t,_e year. The
most nuc,erous groups of moultinf; ueals are o^serveC: on tue ice from
the .firot nalf of' 1.ïarch, in locc.lities wit,, lar:,e uatches of open
water. The rloulting rookeries are characterized by fairly high conani^nal.:^.
centration_ of the
';lhen the ice-floès disappear the i.loultin;; animais lie on high
piles of ice formed on sand-banks. As they are unable to finish the
moult be.forG. the icu all goos, and they requia:c: a solid sub:jtrate,
they then corle awhore, on sand-banks dried by tite wind., forming island
rookeries in the northern part of the Caspian !;ea. The great majority
of the seals have completed the moult by the end of l.,ay or the beginnin;.7
of June.
The composition of the rnoultinE;. rookeries varies as
time goes by: at first it consists of adults, and sexua.lly-immature
ani:nals of both sexes, but later (in April) the adult females leave
the ice and only males and sexuo.lly-immature seals re:aairl. At the
end o.: April and in May only sexually-imi^la.ture animals and a few adult
males rei.lain in the island rookeries.
During the breedint; and moultino periods the seals take little
interest in feeding; in the absence of food. t:,ey ^,o hungry, but do
not leave the ice. After the ice disappears t:,c:y have to, spend a
long time in the water, and in the areas where ti?cre were lar^,e rookeries
on the ice some dispersal of tiie animals is necessitated by the
search for food. Throughout the entire period of intensive feeding
(fro^:, the end of sprint; to the middle of autu,nn) they 'riave a varied
diet.
A.1art;e 'proportion of the fishes eaten consists of bulll.leads,
;;p:oats, sand s;.lelts, si,lall' herrir:g7 roach, etc. 11-. autu:nn a prominent
place is taken in thoir diet by carp, flilce--perch, and carp-b3:eam.
They also eat shrimps, Amtlhipoda, and crayfi ;li.
During the intensive-feeding period the seal::' s-cate of nutrition
im71z'oves considerably.
The weight of an adLilt ,.,ale in sprint,.;
1F; 40-45 but by jr1llUar,`,' c 1.Ci. Pebxuax'y it i s :U-U j kr'. in EiUla.:er .
the seals forr,i shore rookeries on a number of islands in the Iiorthea°:
Lorn and nortcEie ,tei:z, of the Ca:,piarl .,tailily compor;ed
of se.cualJ.y--im.,lature ani.i.iUl: ; in late autumn firi.;t adult l,lales, and
tl,c n precil..inL fc,:,alecl, come to tlie,.e rookeries .
Ail; ;;.:a].s :Li.ve in
).'C)u):tJrie' M L1T1 L.L,I. l'l'i' .,Sc,-ll a.