194 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 
the left side crosses the median line and runs up on nine ridges on the right side. A 
feather-like gray line fills up all of the inferior margin of the caudal peduncle from 
the anus to the flukes, leaving no pure white. The post-anal gray mark runs 
forward and downward on each side close to the median feather-like line, and 
almost reaches to the anus. (See pl. 8, fig. 4; pl. 11, fig. 2.) 
MARKINGS ABOUT THE EYE, AURICULAR ORIFICE, AND ROOT OF PECTORAL FIN. 
In BL. physalus, while the upper surfaces of the body are practically all of a 
uniform gray color, the region between the eye and the pectoral fin is varied by 
markings of different shades of gray, which are very conspicuous in some indi- 
viduals. These markings are represented in a rather indifferent manner in Sars’s 
figure of his Lofoten Ids. specimen (77, pl. 1, figs. 1 and 2; pl. 2, fig. 1), and are 
mentioned by him as follows: “ Between the root of the pectoral fin and the corner 
of the mouth, on each side above, a whitish (not pure white) mark shows itself, 
which sends out above a number of small stripes, of which the most conspicuous 
are one passing forward in the direction of the eye, and another backward in the 
direction of the dorsal fin” (77, 15, sep.). 
In the Newfoundland Finbacks (pl. 11, fig. 1) the most constant and notice- 
able marking of the region above mentioned is a whitish line which starts at the 
auricular orifice on the right side, curves strongly upward, then downward, and 
terminates at or above the anterior insertion of the pectoral fin. On the left side 
another light line usually starts at the eye, and may run under or through rather 
than over the ear, and terminate at the insertion of the pectoral. This line is 
usually much lighter than the surrounding surfaces, and is often bordered with 
dark gray. This light line in some cases broadens out at the posterior end and 
merges into a large white area of irregular shape and imperfectly defined borders 
above the root of the pectoral. This is the area mentioned by Sars. Besides 
these markings, in some individuals a distinct gray band, darker than the sur- 
rounding surfaces and about as wide as the eye, starts just above that organ, and 
running obliquely upward and backward broadens out into a large ill-defined dark 
gray area on the shoulder. This dark area is itself invaded by a large, V-shaped, 
double, white marking, producing a very complicated succession of tints in this 
region. The white or whitish mark above the root of the pectoral sometimes 
extends backward and involves the basal portion of the fin itself, and may be sepa- 
rated off from the color of the distal part of the pectoral by a very dark line. 
(See pl. 10, fig. 3.) 
These various markings are more distinct on the right side than the left, and 
appear in different combinations, but the light line may almost invariably be 
detected, and is quite distinct in feetal specimens. In a freshly-obtained fcetus, 
12 ft. 9 in. long, the back was of a beautiful cerulean blue, and a very light line 
began at the anterior corner of the eye and passed back over the eye (becoming 
there almost white) and thence backward just above the auricular orifice. Then it 
curved upward and backward over the root of the pectoral and was lost in the 
