ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



the Scottish seas, I referred to all the cases of which I had 

 been able to find a record. 1 The specimen now described, 

 with one subsequently captured, gives two additional examples. 



Locality. Date. Authority. 



Hoxay, Orkney . . 9th or loth cent? George Petrie. 



Limekilns .... February 1689 . Sir R. Sibbald. 



Cramond .... 1701 . . James Paterson. 



Monifieth .... February 1703 . Sir R. Sibbald. 



Ross-shire .... 1756 . . Sir W. Jardine. 



Cramond .... 1769 . . James Robertson. 



Hoy Sound, Orkney . About 1800 . . George Low. 



Oban May 1829 . . Sir William Turner. 



Thurso July 1863 . . J. E. Gray and Sir W. H. Flower. 



Loch Scavaig, Skye . July 1871 . . Sir William Turner. 



Roeness Voe, Shetland August 1901 . . Sir Wm. Turner. 2 



Roeness, ,, June 1903 . . Sir Wm. Turner. 3 



It is well known that the sperm whale in its customary 

 habitat moves about as a rule in herds or ' schools.' The 

 specimens captured on the coasts of Scotland have, on the 

 other hand, usually been solitary animals. The majority of 

 these were males and of great size, a fact which supports 

 the statement made by Mr. Thomas Beale that the full- 

 grown males go singly in search of food. 



In connection with this record of the occurrence of 

 the sperm whale in the Scottish seas, it will be of interest 

 to note the cases in which specimens have been observed 

 to the north of Scotland, or on the opposite coast of 

 Scandinavia. Professor Gustav Guldberg of Christiania, 

 in a recent publication, 4 has collected evidence of the 



1 " Proc. Roy. Soc. Eclin.," Feb. 6, 1871, and Jan. 29, 1872, vol. vii. 



2 As an addition to this list we may mention that Dr. John MacRury 

 recorded in this Magazine (1897, p. 249), the occurrence of a sperm whale in 

 South Uist in May 1897. This specimen was cast ashore in a comparatively 

 fresh state, was 7 fe t in length, and yielded a quantity of oil. Since this 

 note was published, Mr. Andrew M'Elfrish has furnished us with some 

 additional data, according to which the carcase came ashore at Aidmill Bomish, 

 was 78 feet in length, and was estimated to weigh 50 tons. The muzzle had 

 a sheer height of 12 feet, and the length of the jaw was 14 feet. It produced 15 

 tons of oil, but the ambergris was untouched. The teeth were sold to a 

 commercial traveller, from whom Mr. M'Elfrish procured two. The skeleton 

 was left upon the shore. EDS. 



3 This specimen was a male, killed in June 1903 by the Norwegian Whaling 

 Company, of which Mr. Castberg is the manager, 30 miles north-west from 

 Roeness. It was 62 feet long and 36 feet in girth, and yielded about 800 

 gallons of spermaceti and 53 barrels of oil, and was one of a herd of three, but 

 two escaped. I am indebted to Mr. Thos. Anderson for this information. 

 WM. TURNER. 



4 " Nyt Magazin f. Naturvidenskab," B. 39, H. 4. I am indebted to Prof. 

 Guldberg for a copy of this memoir. 



