86 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 



SPECIES II. 



BAL.E'NA ICELANDICA, vel NORDCAPER; 

 THE NORTH CAPE or ICELAND WHALE* 



This species differs from the preceding chiefly in hav- 

 ing a more lengthened body, and a proportionally smaller 

 head. It seems to agree with it in the absolute length 

 of the body, which it sometimes exceeds. Its head has 

 the appearance of an oval, truncated posteriorly and a 

 little slanting at the extremity of the muzzle. The lower 

 part is rounded and very high, and larger in proportion 

 than the B. mysticetus. Amongst the drawings made 

 by Mr. Backstrom, which the Count La Cepede has en- 

 graved, there is one which exhibits in a particular man- 

 ner that oval appearance, which is maintained by the 

 two bones of the lower jaw; these are united ante- 

 riorly, binding the acute extremities, and terminate in 

 two processes, one of which is articulated with arm-bones 

 (ossa brachii), forming a perfect oval. The tout- 

 ensemble of the head, and of the baleen, are smaller than 

 in the B. mysticete, when contrasted with its whole 

 length. The dimensions of this species are much in- 

 ferior to those of the common whale, and, as it is not 

 much loaded with fat, the whalers seldom find it to yield 

 more than on an average thirty tons of oil. 



The two spiracles or air-holes represent two small 

 semicircles, which are a little separated from each other, 

 the convexities of which are opposed. The eye is very 

 small, and its shortest diameter is placed obliquely. 



* Synonymes. — Balcena Mysticetus, Var. B. Linnasus. Baleine 

 Nordcaper, L'Abbe Bonnaterre, " Descrip. DTsland." La Cepede 

 " Hist. Nat. De Cetacees." Baleena Glacialis, Klein. Nordcaper, 

 Anderson's " Iceland." Baleena Icclandica, Dewhurst. 



