DELPHINID^ 35 



two or three together at the same insant. Neither do they make 

 those playful heaps and gambols that the larger Dolphins do, their 

 general habit being to make a quick puff and turn as soon as they 

 appear above water, aparently choosing the darkness below rather 

 than the light above. It is not from shyness, however, for they 

 are met with about roadsteads and harbors, among shipping, and 

 frequently play their odd turnings close to vessels under way, or 

 at their moorings. By night, when at anchor, we have known 

 them to play about the vessels rudder, but this may be regarded 

 as an unusual occurrence. 



"They feed on small fish, and are occasionally taken in the 

 seines that are hauled along the shores of San Francisco Bay by 

 Italian fishermen. The northern Indians frequently capture them 

 about the inland waters during the calm, clear weather of the 

 sum.mer months." (Scammon). 



Gentts Orcinus Fitzingkr. (A kind of whale.) 

 Dorsal fin very large and prominent; pectoral fins large, 

 broad, ovate; head conical; rostrum broad, about as long as 

 cranium; teeth lo to 13, large; vertebras 52; largest of subfamily. 



Orcinus rectipinna Cope. (Straight — fin.) 



STR'AIGHT FINNED KILLER. 



Dorsal fin at right angles to the body, extremely long, six 

 feet or more in the male; no large white spot behind the eye; 

 length of male about 20 feet. 

 North Pacific Ocean. 



Orcinus ater Cope. (Black.) 



BLACK KILLER. 



Dorsal fin shorter, wider and curved backward ; a white spot 

 behind the eye. 



North Pacific Ocean. 



The following notes apply to both Killers, the description 



