420 Mr. T. Southwell— >S^o?He Bes.ults of (lie 



tliey were common along tlie wbole coast hunted by the 

 Norwegian and Russian whalers during nearly tlie whole 

 season, and an immense number remained off Sylte Fjord 

 (East Finmarken) for about three weeks in May and June. 

 They appear, liowever, to have reached the Russian coast 

 somewhat later, the iirst killed by one of the Yeretiki 

 steamers being on July 10th ; the large number of 771 were 

 killed during that season, these being i'airly distributed 

 among all the vessels of the fleet. In 188G only 62 were 

 killed (40 of which fell to one vessel), the Avhales having 

 again resorted to their habitat westward of Soroen. In 1887' 

 they were again abundant, and 245 were killed, 110 of these 

 by Capt. Bull, chiefly between Loppen Island and Reisen, the 

 first on May 21st and the last on the 12th of August. The 

 next year the number fell to 02, but in 1889 it again increased 

 to about 113 — thus showing this species to be a constant 

 visitor in considerable, but fluctuating, numbers off the 

 Finmarken coast. 



It is not much sought after by the whalers, and owing to 

 its small size and proportionately small yield of oil is neglected 

 when other species are to be obtained. 



As is the case with all the members of this family, the date 

 of pairing, period of gestation, and season of calving are not 

 known with certainty, but the following measurements of 

 foetuses, with the dates of their occurrence, afford some 

 indication : — 



Date. Length of foetus, 



ft. in. 



June 21 4 10 



July a 2 1 



18 6 c? ") q^ c , 



4 2 1 "'^ loetuses. 



26 8 5 



28 5 6 



i^ug. G 3 7 



10 CO 



10 5 



15 9 



A female, 46 ft. 10 in. long, brought into the factory at 

 Tufjord on the 18th July, 1885, contained twin foetuses of 

 opposite sexes. Prof. CoUett (F. Z. S. 1886, p. 261) mentions 

 a similar instance of twins in a whale of this species 43 ft. long- 

 captured at the entrance to the Varanger Fjoid, which con- 

 tained two young ones each 6 ft. 7 in. long. So far as 1 am 



