68 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



PHYSETER MACROCEPHALUS : Sperm Whale. 



Buneveneader station got one sperm whale this year, a bull of 

 60 feet. Since 1903, 19 sperm whales have been killed in 

 the seas around Scotland. These include the 5 7-foot cow killed by 

 the Buneveneader Company, and to which I called attention in July 

 1906. The average length of these 19 whales is 58.2 feet. They 

 are at most rare visitants to Scottish waters, though a dead cow was 

 found off Ronas Voe in 1902. The capture of the cow is, I 

 believe, unique in British Natural History. 



BAL^ENA BISCAYENSIS : Atlantic Right Whale the Nordcaper 



of the Norwegians. 



Buneveneader got 20 of these rare whales 12 bulls averaging 

 43.8 feet, and 8 cows averaging 44 feet. 



Taking the total whales killed in Scottish waters, I find that 28 

 were bulls averaging 45.1 feet long, and 22 were cows averaging 

 46.1 feet. The proportion of bulls to cows being 56.0, and the 

 proportion of cows to bulls being 44.0. 



The whalebone of these whales is said to be worth ^700 a 

 whale. They are got in or about the Antarctic seas, a correspondent 

 telling me his steamers got 17 in 1907-8. This is rather different 

 to what I wrote last year, and different to the experiences of the 

 Dundee whalers in 1 892-3. But " Antarctic " is a wide word, and in 

 a part of the ocean so little known these whales may exist in different 

 localities. 



MEGAPTERA LONGIMANA : Humpback, Knul. 



Buneveneader station got a bull of 5 i feet long and 28 in girth, 

 They are rare whales in Scottish seas. I only can give a record of 

 the following : 



12 bulls averaging . . 44.6 feet. 



5 cows averaging . . . 42.4 ,, 



From the coast of Brazil to the Antarctic they abound. One 

 company last year got 305. These whales yield a great deal of oil 

 for their size, and are consequently more sought after than the 

 Finners. 



I am indebted to Mr. Lund for the catch of whales at the 

 Arranmore station in the North of Ireland : 



5 B. biscayensis. 3 i B. borealis. 



19 B. sibbaldii. i Megaptera. 



2 1 B. musadus. 



This is interesting, as it helps to trace the course of the Atlantic 

 Right Whale to Iceland. It also shows that B. sibbaldii follow the 



