92 



NATURAL HJSTOiiY. 



acts as a sieve for the Whale to strain his food through. The 

 throat of the Greenland Whale is very small indeed, and its 

 food consists of a little creature ahout an inch and a half 

 long, called Clio borealis. The "Whale, when it wishes to 

 feed, rushes through the water with its immense jaws wide 

 open, enclosing a host of little sea animals, and a few hogs- 

 heads of water. As the Whale only wants the animals, and 

 not the water, it shuts its mouth, and drives all the water out 



BAL.EXA. 



Mysticetus (Gr. 



a moustache ; A'//rof, a sea monster), the 



through the fringes of whalebone, leaving the little creatures 

 in its jaws. The sailors, who always r.se forcible expressions, 

 say that a penny loaf would choke a whale. 



For the capture of this animal, a number of ships leave 

 England, France, arid other countries, reaching the Polar 

 Seas ahout the end of April. When arrived at their destina- 

 tion, a careful look-out is kept from the mast-head fc;r " fish," 



