394 CETACEA. 



yearly caught by the Greenlanders ; but the majority of this number are 

 Belugas. It feeds on crustaceans, fishes, and cuttles, and in the stomach 

 is generally found sand. The Greenlanders often jocularly remark, in 

 reference to this, that the Kclclluak takes in ballast. Great numbers are 

 captured by means of nets at the entrance of fiords and inlets, or in the 

 sounds between islands. The young are darker colored than the adult, 

 and can at once be distinguished among the herds of the adults, which 

 are of a pinky-white color. They are rarely seen far from land. The 

 males and females go together in the herd, and do not separate. Their 

 blast is not unmusical ; and, when under the water, they emit a pecu- 

 liar whistling sound, which might be mistaken for the call of a bird ; on 

 this account the seamen often term them " Sea-canaries." It is rarely 

 that the regular whalers kill a Beluga, their swiftness and activity 

 giving the fishers more trouble than the oil is worth. 



A White Whale was exhibited for some time at Barnum's Museum, 

 New York. It was sufficiently well-trained to recognize its keeper, and 

 would put its head out of the water to take its food. Since then numer- 

 ous specimens have been seen in captivity both in New York and 

 Boston. There was one at Coney Island in 1877, where it had the 

 benefit of having a tank supplied with fresh sea-water. 



The name Beluga Canadensis has been given to the White Whales 

 which are taken at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, but Gray con- 

 siders them identical with Beluga catodon. 



Most of the species of whales are as yet imperfectly known. Some 

 idea of the number of the species may be formed from part of the 

 evidence of Professor Owen given before a Parliamentary Commission. 

 He said that in order to display his specimens of whales properly, the 

 British Museum ought to have fourteen galleries, each one mile in length. 



