THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



V. The Humppjack-WIIALE {Megapteva lonoiuiaua, 



Rudolph i). 



Of the Humpback-whale, only thirty-one specimens were 

 landed in Scotland during the period 1908-14; in the pre- 

 ceding years, 1904-07, according to Mr Haldane's account, 

 five were landed in each of the four years that is to say, 

 between 1908 and 19 14 the Humpback constituted less than 

 I per cent. (31 out of 3969 whales, or 078 per cent.) of the 

 total catch. This is in strong contrast to the Norwegian 



Fig. 7. The Scottish Catch of Humpback-whales, 1908-1914. 



figures. In Hjort's Finmark statistics {Hvalfangst, p. 187), 

 and in Mr Cocks' for Finmark and the Murman coast, we 

 have the following catches recorded : 



3562 



4070 



showing a percentage of Humpbacks from ten to sixteen times 

 as great as ours. Since the Humpback is a large and valuable 

 whale, we have no reason to suppose that it is neglected by 



