LITTLE PIKED WHALE. 273 



and fiords of this rocky coast, but no other was ever seen to leap out of water. At Makkovik 

 Island one was sighted near the edge of the pack ice. Near Hopedale Harbor a pair and later 

 a single one rose to spout, and eight single ones between Fanny's Harbor and Nain, with pack 

 ice constantly near. On the return the following day, two pairs and eight singles were seen, 

 and off Cape Harrison a lone one close in shore, that in diving turned on its side and showed 

 its white wrist band. This last individual several times shot up a column of spray when it 

 rose to breathe, but this was probably in part water carried up with the breath, for the surface 

 was very rough at the time. Ordinarily no ' spout ' is visible even in the Labrador waters be- 

 cause, no doubt, on account of the comparatively small size of the whale and the slight depth to 

 which it dives, the air in the lungs is not under such compression and is not expelled with sucli 

 great force as in the larger species. For as suggested by Racovitza, it is probably the sudden 

 and great expansion of the moisture-charged breath that cools it sufficiently to cause the con- 

 densation of the vapor. 



Probably there is a slight migratory movement of these whales in summer, for they follow 

 the open water as the ice goes out, seemingly in pursuit of the shoals of fish that come in shore. 

 On the Norwegian coast it is called the Summer Whale since it appears more frequently at 

 that season. In Perley's Report on the Sea and River Fisheries of New Brunswick, 1852, it is 

 said that the Gaspe fishermen do not commence pursuit of the Humpback until the api^ear- 

 ance about the middle of June of a smaller species (doubtless the Little Piked Whale) which 

 swims too fast to be easily harpooned, and besides is not worth the trouble. This would imply 

 that these whales are not present in the Bay of St. Lawrence in such numbers in winter, when 

 the gulf is choked with ice. Brown (1868) says that in Davis Strait and Baffin's Bay it is a 

 summer visitor only, and that even in southern Greenland it is rarely seen in winter. 



From the observations recounted above, it seems that this whale is less social than the 

 Common Finback, and is usually seen singly or in pairs. At times, however, as when attracted 

 by a school of fish, several may congregate in the same place. 



Food. 



Exact observations as to the food of this Rorqual are disappointingly few, but it seems 

 to be a fish-eater to a large extent, though no doubt the diet is occasionally varied with free- 

 swimming crustaceans. Flower (1864, p. 254) mentions a specimen the stomach of which 

 contained the remains of numerous fish of considerable size. The identity of the fish is uncer- 

 tain, though his informant believed them to be cod. Guldberg (1885) says, in speaking of this 

 whale that it follows the schools of herring with the Common Finback. Undoubtedly it feeds 

 largely on this fish, and, on the Labrador coast it probably pursues the capelin (Mallotus) 

 as it is known to do in Greenland, following it in among the bays and fiords. So abundant 



