1 1 86 THE CETACEANS 



the year. Captain Scammon says that in its regular migrations from the hot southern 

 latitudes to within the Arctic Circle this whale follows the general trend of an ir- 

 regular coast so closely that it is exposed to attack from the savage 

 tribes inhabiting the seashores, who pass much of their time in their 

 canoes, and consider the capture of this singular wanderer a feat worthy of the 

 highest distinction. As it approaches the waters of the torrid zone, it presents an 

 opportunity to the civilized whalemen to practice their different modes of strategy, 

 thus hastening the period of its entire disappearance. This species of whale mani- 

 fests the greatest affection for its young, and seeks the sheltered estuaries lying un- 

 der a tropical sun, as if to warm its offspring into activity and promote its comfort, 

 until grown to the size nature demands for its first northern visit. When the parent 

 animals are attacked, they show a power of resistance and tenacity of life that dis- 

 tinguish them from all other Cetaceans. This species has of late years become very 

 rare, and is now in considerable danger of extermination. 



THE HUMPBACK 



Genus Megaptera 



The humpback whale {Megaptera bbops} belongs to the group characterized by 

 the presence of a number of longitudinal flutings in the skin of the throat, and of a 

 fin on the back. It is distinguished from the finners (described below), by the 

 comparatively-large size of the head, the short and deep body, the small size of the 

 fin on the back, and the enormous length of the flippers. The flukes are relatively 

 large, and the flippers are characterized by their scalloped margins. As in the gray 

 whale and finners, the vertebrae of the neck are relatively longer than in the right 

 whales, and remain perfectly separate from one another throughout life. The whale- 

 bone, which is of a deep black color, is short and broad, and of a coarse and but 

 slightly elastic structure. In length the humpback varies from forty-five to fifty 

 feet; the flippers measuring from ten to fourteen feet in length. The general color 

 of the body is black above, but often more or less marbled with white below, while 

 the flippers may he either entirely white, or black above and speckled with white 

 below. The skeleton of the flippers has four digits, with a great number of joints. 



The name humpback, according to Captain Scammon, is derived from the 

 prominence on the back which carries the fin, but there appears to be considerable 

 individual variation in regard to the degree of its development. Captain Scammon, 

 from whose figures our illustration is taken, makes this prominence at least as high 

 as any other part of the back, while in the position assumed by the suckling female 

 in the lower half of the illustration it is the highest point of all. In a figure given 

 by Sir W. H. Flower the whole back is made more arched, with the highest point 

 only a short distance behind the base of the flippers; possibly, however, there may 

 be individual differences in this respect. It may be mentioned here that when a 

 whale leaps out of the water, as in the topmost figure of our illustration, it is said 

 to ' ' breach ' ' ; when a fin is shown out of the water, as in the two right upper 



