68 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HLSTORY 



Physeter macrocephalus : Sperm Whale. 



Buneveneadcr station got one sperm whale this year, a bull of 

 60 feet. Since 1903, 19 sperm whales have been killed in 

 the seas around Scotland. These include the 5 7-foot cow^ killed by 

 the Buneveneader Company, and to which I called attention in July 

 1906. The average length of these 19 whales is 58.2 feet. They 

 are at most rare visitants to Scottish waters, though a dead cow was 

 found off Ronas Voe in 1902. The capture of the cow is, I 

 believe, unique in British Natural History. 



Bal^na biscayensis : Atlantic Right Whale — the Nordcaper 



of the Norwegians. 



Buneveneader got 20 of these rare whales — 12 bulls averaging 

 43.8 feet, and 8 cows averaging 44 feet. 



Taking the total whales killed in Scottish waters, I find that 28 

 were bulls averaging 45.1 feet long, and 22 were cow^s averaging 

 46.1 feet. The proportion of bulls to cows being 56.0, and the 

 proportion of cows to bulls being 44.0. 



The whalebone of these whales is said to be worth ^z^^yoo a 

 whale. They are got in or about the Antarctic seas, a correspondent 

 telling me his steamers got 17 in 1907-8. This is rather different 

 to w^hat I wrote last year, and different to the experiences of the 

 Dundee whalers in 1892-3. But " Antarctic" is a wide word, and in 

 a part of the ocean so little known these whales may exist in different 

 localities. 



Megaptera longimana : Humpback, Knul. 



Buneveneader station got a bull of 51 feet long and 28 in girth, 

 They are rare whales in Scottish seas. I only can give a record of 

 the following : — 



12 bulls averaging . . . 44.6 feet. 



5 cows averaging . . . 42.4 ,, 



From the coast of Brazil to the Antarctic they abound. One 

 company last year got 305. These whales yield a great deal of oil 

 for their size, and are consequently more sought after than the 

 Finners. 



I am indebted to Mr. Lund for the catch of whales at the 

 Arranmore station in the North of Ireland : — 



5 B. biscayensis. 3 i ■^. borealis. 



\^ B. sibbaldii. i Megaptera. 



21 B. musculus. 



This is interesting, as it helps to trace the course of the Atlantic 

 Right Whale to Iceland. It also shows that B. sibbaldii follow the 



