286 Lloyd's natural history 



all the following genera) at least some of its vertebrae united 

 together ; back-fin absent or present. 



THE COMMON PORPOISE. PHOC^NA COMMUNIS. 



Delphiiius phoccena^ Linn., Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 108 



(1766). 

 Phoccejia communis^ Lesson, Man. Mamm. p. 413 (1827); 

 Bell, British Quadrupeds, 2nd ed. p. 458 (1874); South- 

 well, British Seals and Whales, p. 120 (1881); Flower, 

 List Cetacea Brit. Mus. p. 15 (1885). 

 Characters. — Back fin triangular, situated nearly in the middle 

 of the back, its he'ght less than its basal length, and with a 

 row of small tubercles on its front edge ; colour of back nearlj 

 black, the flanks lighter, and the under-parts nearly white. 

 Length of adult from 4 to 5 feet. 



Distribution. — The range of the Common Porpoise includes 

 the greater part of the North Atlantic, extending northwards to 

 Baffin Bay and westwards to America ; southwards, the Por- 

 poise is found rarely in the Mediterranean. In the British 

 seas the Porpoise is the commonest of all Cetaceans, and is 

 found there at all seasons ; while not unfrequently it ascends 

 our larger rivers for some distance. 



Habits. — The Porpoise is a gregarious Cetacean, associating 

 in large "schools," which seldom wander far from shore, and 

 whose sportive gambols as they roll along near the surface of 

 the water, showing first the head, next the back, and finally the 

 flukes, must be familiar to all. Exclusively or mainly a fish- 

 eater, the Porpoise consumes vast numbers of pelagic fish, such 

 as Herrings, Pilchards, and Mackerel, in its headlong pursuit 

 of which it often becomes entangled in fishing-nets, where, 

 from its size and power, it does much damage. It is likewise 

 partial to Salmon, and it is probable that it is often when in 

 pursuit of that fish that it enters some of our rivers. The 



