1903] SCHARFF. — Irish Cetacea. 89 



Whether the thirty-eight whales which were driven ashore at the 

 Raven Point outside Wexford Harbour, in July, 1840, belong to this 

 species, as Thompson seems to think (XX., p. 45) is doubtful, but I agree 

 with him in referring the immense shoal— 303 in number— which were 

 captured in Bantry Bay in 1844, to the Ca'in Whale. The late Dr. R. Ball 

 observed this species at Youghal, Co. Cork, where it appears to be of 

 frequent occurrence, in June. He stated that they average from 11-18 

 feet in length, but that one individual had attained to 22 feet. An in- 

 teresting account of the capture in 1853 of about twent3'-five specimens 

 in Dundrum Bay, Co. Down, was given by Dr. Gulliver (XIV., p. 63.) 

 He also dissected a foetus and described its anatom3% 



White-beaked Doi^phin— Lagenorhynchus albirostris, Gray. 



(Plate 4, fig. 10.) 

 As will be noticed from the figure, this species possesses an indication 

 of a beak, which moreover is brilliantly white. The under parts of the 

 body are also white, the remainder being purplish black. The teeth are 

 very small and numerous. The White-beaked Dolphin is a rare northern 

 species, and grows to a length of 9 feet. A coloured cast of a supposed 

 Bottle-nosed Dolphin from Dublin Bay was identified by Mr. More as 

 belonging to this species (XVII., p. 202). In 1887 Mr. R. LI. Patterson 

 exhibited a skull of this species before the Belfast Natural Histor}' 

 Society, and he afterwards presented it to the Dublin Museum. It was 

 taken at Portavo, on the coast of Co. Down. 



White-sided Doi^phin— Lagenorhynchus acutus, Gray. 



This Dolphin is probably the rarest of all the Irish species of cetacea, 

 and has never been taken on the English coast, though some skulls 

 from the Orkneys and Hebrides are known. It differs from the last 

 principally in colour. The back is black and the under parts white, but 

 there is a drab-coloured band along the flanks, so as to make the colouring 

 rather a striking feature. 



Although Mr. Lydekker, in his recent work (XVI.), makes no mention 

 of the occurrence of this species on the Irish coast, it was noticed near 

 Portrush twenty-four years ago by Mr. Ogilb}^, and duly recorded in the 

 Zoologist (^V\\\.,^. ^QO-f). More recently Mr. Barrett-Hamilton (VIII., 

 p. 384) procured a lower jaw of this Dolphin on the Wexford coast, and 

 presented it to the Dublin Museum. 



Common Doi^phin- Dclphinus delphis, Linn. 



(Plate 4, fig. II.) 

 The typical Dolphins, to which this species belongs, differ from the last 

 in having a much more pronounced beak. The Common Dolphin has 

 from 40-60 pairs of small, conical teeth in each jaw, the skull being very 

 flat above. According to Mr. Beddard (IX., p. 255) the colours of this 

 dolphin are unusually variegated for a cetacean, and liable to much 

 variation. " The usual black of the dorsal and white of the ventral surface 

 are supplemented by two lateral areas of a fulvous or greyish tinge ; a 



