1232 



THE CETACEANS 



with the most eager delight, throwing themselves into every possible attitude, and 

 tossing and leaping about with elegant and powerful agility, for no apparent pur- 

 pose save mere pastime." In the British seas the chief food of this species is 

 formed by herrings and pilchards. The dolphin is said to utter a low murmuring 

 sound. A single offspring is produced at a birth, and is tended by the female 

 parent with assiduous care. Formerly, the flesh of the dolphin was eaten in Eng- 

 land and other European countries. 



THE COMMON DOLPHIN. 



(One-eighteenth natural size.) 



There are several other species more or less closely allied to the 

 common dolphin, although some of them are still very imperfectly 

 known. Such are Dussumier's dolphin (D. dussumieri) , from the Malabar coast of 

 India, and the Cape dolphin {D. capensis), from the Cape of Good Hope. The 

 red-bellied dolphin (D. roseiventris] , from the Moluccas and Torres Straits, is a small 

 species, not exceeding four feet in length, with forty-eight teeth on each side of 

 the jaws, which has a skull intermediate between that of the common dolphin 

 and the next species. The slender dolphin (D. attenuatus} may be taken as an 

 example of a group of several species, distinguished from the common dolphin and 



