194 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



southerly range in the Western Atlantic than in the Eastern, 

 probably owing to climatic conditions. We hear nothing 

 of B. rostrata, a common species on this coast. The six 

 Sperm Whales were taken by vessels from the eastern 

 stations. The sexes of the species are not given separately ; 

 but of the total of 892 470 were males and 422 females, 

 the proportion of the latter being greater than in 1904. 



Of the i 8 vessels employed (five more than in 1904) the 

 " Puma " was the most successful with 90 fish, and the 

 " Neptune," fishing from Lark Harbour, was clean ; this 

 falling off in the number Mr. Way, the inspector of 

 Whaling Factories, does not attribute entirely to a scarcity 

 of whales, for whereas Snooks' Arm Station shows a defi- 

 ciency of 49, Beaverton in the same bay had an increase 

 of i 2 ; but this discrepancy probably arose from one vessel 

 being more fortunate in falling in with the whales than the 

 other. The true cause of the falling off in the fishery was 

 doubtless the unusual scarcity experienced of the minute 

 crustaceans which form the favourite food of the whales ; on 

 the other hand Caplin were unusually plentiful, clearly in- 

 dicating that the presence of this fish is not their chief attrac- 

 tion. Mr. Way does not regard the scarcity of whales in 

 the past season as indicative of a permanent decline, but 

 the tax of $1500 per station has been disastrous. 



It is unfortunate that the sex of the Sperm Whales was 

 not given, for although the capture of females of this species, 

 as pointed out by Mr. Haldane, is of very rare occurrence, it 

 is not unprecedented, for, according to Anderson's " History 

 of Iceland," of a school of 17 of these animals which came 

 ashore at the mouth of the Elbe on 2nd December 1723, 

 half (sic) were males and half females ; and of thirty-two 

 stranded on the coast of France in 1784 the majority are 

 said to have been females. Mr. Haldane's statement that the 

 Sperm Whales keep considerably to the west of the Hebrides, 

 whereas those captured at Newfoundland all fell to the eastern 

 stations, indicates that this deep-water species in its passage 

 north follows the course of the Gulf Stream in mid-ocean, 

 diverging to the north-west before reaching the Hebrides ; 

 in adopting this line of migration they would not only be most 

 likely to obtain a better supply of their favourite food, but 



