1 190 THE CETACEANS 



for whalemen taking it to be the young of more bulky species. At sea the sharp- 

 headed finners are seldom seen in pairs, but wander solitarily alone, frequently chang- 

 ing their course in the depths below, and meandering along the whole continental 

 coast of the North Pacific, occasionally visiting the large estuaries about the shore- 

 They pass through Behring Sea and Strait into the Arctic Ocean where they appear 

 to be as much at home as their superiors in size. ' ' The writer then goes on to say 

 that, like the Pacific gray whale, "they thread the icy floes, and frequently 

 emerge through the narrow fissures bolt upright, with their heads above the broken 



THE LESSER FIN WHAI.E. 



(One-seventy-fifth natural size.) 



ice, to blow. When roaming about the inland waters of lower latitudes, they often 

 shoot along the shallow waters of the bays in search of the myriads of small fry on 

 which they mainly sustain themselves." 



Eden's fin whale (B. edeni), from the Indian seas, is only known by skeletons, 

 and appears to be closely allied to the present species, but attains somewhat larger 

 dimensions, and is believed to have a few more vertebrae in the backbone. 



The next species in point of size is Rudolphi's fin whale (B. borealis], which 

 attains a length of from forty to forty-five, or occasionally as much as fifty-two feet. 

 In color it is bluish black above, with oblong white spots, while the under parts are 



