1224 THE CETACEANS 



being often an inch or more in diameter, and having an oval section. The coloration 

 is striking, the upper parts and fins being black, while the lower jaw, chest, and 

 under parts are whitish. The white area cf the under parts does not, however, 

 extend to the flukes, but ends posteriorly in a trident, of which the lateral and 

 shorter prongs extend obliquely upward on the flanks. There is a large white 

 streak above and behind the eye, and frequently at least a purple crescentic area 

 extends across the back behind the fin. The killer attains a length of at least 

 twenty feet. 



In spite of many nominal species having been recognized, there can 

 be little doubt that the killer has a cosmopolitan distribution, ranging 

 from Greenland in the north to the coasts of Australia in the south. Although 

 chiefly keeping to the open sea, killers occasionally ascend tidal rivers, and three 

 specimens were observed in the Thames, in the spring of 1890. These individuals 

 entered the river during the night, and on the following morning were seen swim- 

 ming up and down the reach between Battersea and Chelsea bridges. After con- 

 tinuing there for several hours, they at length headed for the sea, which they prob- 

 ably reached, as there is no record of their having been attacked. 



When at sea, killers may always be recognized by their tall and 

 nearly vertical back fin. They generally associate in small parties, 

 and subsist not only on fish, but likewise on the flesh of other members of their own 

 order, as well as on that of seals. Captain Scammon writes that ' ' the killers ex- 

 hibit a boldness and cunning peculiar to their carnivorous propensities. At times 

 they are seen in schools, undulating over the waves, two, three, six, or eight 

 abreast, and, with the long, pointed fins above their arched backs, together with 

 their varied marks and colors, they present a pleasing and somewhat military aspect. 

 But generally they go in small squads, less than a dozen, alternately showing 

 themselves above the surface of the water, or gliding just below, when nothing will 

 be visible but their projecting dorsals; or they disport themselves by rolling, tum- 

 bling, and leaping nearly out of the water, or cutting various antics with their 

 flukes. At such times, they usually move rapidly over the surface of the sea, and 

 soon disappear in the distance." It appears that at times both the long-finned 

 males and the shorter-finned females may be found in the same school, while at 

 other times the two sexes keep apart. The swiftness of the killer is very great, as 

 it is able to overtake the smaller dolphins, which it swallows alive. Its voracity is 

 apparently insatiable; Eschricht stating that one of these animals was known to 

 swallow four porpoises in succession, while from the stomach of another individual, 

 whose length did not exceed sixteen feet, were taken fourteen seals. 



Like the other larger members of the order, the Greenland whale is 



t k d b somet i mes attacked by a party of killers. Writing on the subject of 



Killers these attacks Captain Scammon says that ' ' three or four of these 



voracious animals do not hesitate to grapple with the largest baleen 



whale; and it is surprising to see those leviathans of the deep so completely 



paralyzed by the presence of their natural, although diminutive enemies. Frequently, 



the terrified animal comparatively of enormous size and superior strength 



evinces no effort to escape, but lies in a helpless condition, or makes but little 



