268 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



be expected from female whales which are scarce round the Azores in these months (p. 284) : also 

 the curve has been flattened very slightly here so that it starts in April and not in May, on the assump- 

 tion that growth of the embryo follows the characteristic mammalian pattern of being slow in its 

 earliest stage. 



The large foetuses of late summer look as though they are approaching term. Moreover, comparison 

 of the classes of females in July and August catches (Table 24, p. 274) suggests that the proportion of 

 pregnant whales diminishes in August whereas the proportion of lactating whales increases. This 

 change may conceivably be due to local movements, changes in the pattern of segregation from the 

 coast of the classes of females, but otherwise it does suggest that whales are giving birth around the 

 Azores between July and August. But direct and valuable evidence comes from the record of four 

 new-born sperm whale calves which Mr Bernard Stonehouse examined at Cais do Pico, adjacent to 

 Fayal, in August 1951 (Table 22). All were taken in a single excursion of the whaleboats. The fourth 



