68 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



whales follow the coast of Scotland much in the same 

 course as the .Atlantic Right Whale, but after passing 

 Scotland they go more to the east and then pass by the 

 Faroes to Iceland, after which they probably go south 

 towards Bermuda, or even to the South Atlantic. 



The total killed off Scotland and Shetland being — 



this shows that they are but rare visitants at most in these 

 seas, but they have been killed off the coast of Finmark in 

 Norway, and off Faroe and Iceland. 



They, especially the cows, like to keep to the warmer 

 parts of the sea, just outside the tropics, as the only cow 

 Sperm killed so far in British waters is the one got at 

 Buneveneader in 1905. They may be said to be found 

 in nearly every part of the world, from the seas off the 

 Azores, South Africa, New Zealand, Chili, to Japan. The 

 stomachs of those got at Olna in 1907 were absolutely 

 empty, containing only some fish-hooks. Off Harris they 

 feed on Sharks, Octopus, and a fish called " Moonfish " by 

 the Norwegians, 7 or 8 feet long by 2 feet deep, probably 

 a species of Sunfish. The Sharks off Harris are often of 

 large size, but that does not protect them from the Sperm 

 Whales. 



Megaptera. 



These whales do not seem to be frequenting the seas 

 round Scotland and Shetland as much as they once did. 

 Not that they are diminishing in numbers ; the catch at 

 Iceland given above disproves this. Off the coast of Brazil, 

 and about South Georgia, they are in great numbers, one of 

 the most common whales. My impression is that when 

 migrating they follow a course something like that of the 

 Sperm Whales. Mr. Salvesen received from Captain Bull 

 a harpoon found in the blubber of a Megaptera killed off 



