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Show 1900] ANIMAL LIFE 67 decreasing their numbers, so that the Pribyloff Islands herd in 1903 numbered only about two hundred thousand seals, of which some sixty thousand were breeding females. The most valuable of all aquatic furs is that of the sea- otter of the north Pacific coast, but the annual catch has dwindled during the past twenty years from five thousand to five hundred skins. 1 vQuite recently the walrus of the arctic waters of both oceans has been hunted for its skin, the chief use of which is in the manufacture of metal polishers and certain fancy articles,' Jbut on account of its arctic range the walrus is safe from extermination. The manatee of the Florida rivers was threatened with extinction a few years ago owing to a " fad" for its skin, but this rare animal now enjoys rigorous legal protection. N^ mong aquatic animals there is one reptile of considerable importance- namely, the alligator of the gulf states and of Mexico. In view of the fact that two hundred and eighty thousand skins are used annually, it is not surprising that the supply is becoming rapidly reduced. The relation of bird- life to mankind is too large a subject to be more than briefly mentioned in these pages; it touches, firstXgame birds, and, secondly, Ninsect- eating birds. Nearly all the native birds are diminishing in numbers, statistics indicating that 1 U. S. Fish Commission, toper*, 1904. |