196 TRANSACTIONS. NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



1899, Mr. John Robertson found cast up on the beach near St. 

 Ninian's Bay, Bute, the carcase of a small Cetacean, the skull and 

 sternum of which were subsequently recovered and sent to me. 

 I made the species to be the one under discussion, an 

 identification which was very kindly confirmed by Sir 

 William Turner, with whom the skull was left to be placed in 

 the Anatomical Museum, Edinburgh University (22). These 

 occurrences seem to indicate that the animal so well known 

 in the Firth of Clyde as the " Bucker," and in Loch Fyne 

 as the "Stinker," is identical with this species. Fishermen 

 and yachtsmen clearly distinguish it from the porpoise by its 

 larger size, and by its conspicuous habit of leaping out of 

 the water. By the Loch Fyne men this is said to be the 

 " stinkers threshing." They make themselves a nuisance to the 

 herring fishermen by following the boats, so much so that the men 

 throw ballast stones at them to drive them away, not because of 

 any danger, but because in coming to the surface the Dolphin 

 causes such a glare of phosphorescence as to dazzle the eyesight. 

 If one becomes entangled in the nets, it can leap out of, or over 

 them, and escape. The leaping is frequently done in broad day- 

 light, and I have seen a school of about a dozen in the shallow 

 waters of Whiting Bay, playing and gambolling round the ferry- 

 boat, throwing themselves well clear of the water and falling 

 back with a resounding splash — a fine sight in the bright sun- 

 shine of a summer day (August, 1897). Seen at a distance, their 

 bodies are in a beautiful curve when clear of the water, not unlike 

 salmon leaping. They seem to possess a power of suspended 

 motion, and sometimes bring their rapid actions suddenly under 

 control, leaving their caudal extremities projecting above the 

 surface for a short time before drawing them under. The im- 

 pression given is that the animal stands on its head, as it were. 



Other species of Dolphin have occurred in our waters, and the 

 name " bucker " may apply to them all, but, so far as I know, 

 the only statements with any specific value regarding our other 

 Clyde Dolphins are the following: — 



10. L. acutus, Gray. White-sided Dolphin. — An example of 

 this rare British species is stated to have been seen lying on the 

 pier, at Ardrishaig, by the Rev. N. Macpherson, of Newton, 

 Inveraray (7). It would confirm the identification were it known 

 that the skull had been examined by a competent authority. 



