BEHAVIOUR 



197 



by Scoresby (181 1), and the Old Dartmouth Historical Society at New 

 Bedford (Massachusetts) has an old print depicting it (Fig. 106). We shall 

 return to the nursing of calves in Chapter 13, where we shall discuss the 

 whole question more fully. 



Those familiar \vith the herd life of animals may \vonder whether there 

 are social distinctions among Cetaceans, of the kind met in many other 

 herd animals. The problem of social distinctions between animals was 

 first investigated scientifically when the Norwegian scientist Schjelderupp 

 Ebbe studied the social behaviour of chickens. Chickens are known to 

 keep pecking at one another, and it appeared during the investigation 

 that pecking is a way of maintainiiig a given, or reaching a higher position 

 in the social hierarchy. The chicken that pecks at all the others but is not 

 pecked at itself is at the top of the scale, the one that is pecked at by only 

 the top chicken while pecking at all the others is Chicken No. 2, and so on 

 until \\-e reach the poor animal that is lowest in the social scale which is 

 attacked by everyone while pecking at no one itself Though the method 

 of asserting social superiority may differ from species to species, all herd 

 animals display similar behaviour patterns: dogs bite, cows butt, etc. 

 True, these patterns are not always equally strictly observed, and even 

 chickens may behave differently, but this is not the place to discuss the 

 entire problem in detail, particularly since the available evidence is far 

 from conclusive. Suffice it to say that the degree of social assertiveness 



Figure 106. A Sperm Whale surfacing with a LLOundcd calf in her mouth. Watercolour in the 

 possession of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society, Mew Bedford, iMass. {Parrington, igSj.) 



