SEALS AND WHALES OF THE BRITLSH SEAS. 69 



It is worthy of remark, that in the Southern ocean there are said to be two 

 species of Right-Whale, one Caperea antipodoritm (Gray), not found further 

 north than 40° south latitude ; the other, Eiibalcena aiistralis (Gray), found as 

 near the equator as 20° south latitude. 



The illustration at p. 60 is a reduced copy of the coloured plate in 

 Capellini's account of the Taranto Whale {'Delia Balena di Taranto,^ G. 

 Capellini, Bologna, 1877), the original of which was a carefully-executed 

 water-colour drawing, made from the animal itself. 



BA L ^NOP TERID^. 



THE HUMP-BACKED WHALE. 



The next family, Balcsnopteridcs, is represented by two genera, Megaptera 

 and Balcenoptera. Like the Right-whales, they all have two blow-holes, but 

 may readily be distinguished by having the throat and belly curiously marked 

 with longitudinal furrows, like the ribs in a worsted stocking : they also 

 possess a well-defined dorsal fin. 



The Hump-backed Whale, Megaptera longimana (Rudolphi), the only 

 member of the first genus known to occur in the British seas, has been 

 recorded at least three times ; first at Newcastle in September, 1839, again in 

 the estuary of the Dee, in 1863, and in Wick Bay, Caithnesshire, in March, 

 1 871, Capt. Gray tells me they are not uncommon off the east coast of 

 Scotland in summer, and that he has known several captured off Peterhead, 

 three having been brought in in one season. It is possible other examples 

 may have been mistaken for Rorquals, from which this species may at once 



