COMMON FINBACK WHALE. 213 



"never seen whales so numerous on the eastern shore," and at least four small steamers from 

 .Maine and Cape Cod were in pursuit of them. Many were killed, which from the measure- 

 ments and yield of oil, appear to have been chiefly Finbacks (W. A. Wilcox: Bull. U. S. Fish 

 ( 'omm., 1885, vol. 5, p. 169; S. J. Martin, ibid., p. 207). 



July 3d, a male Finback 56 feet long, came ashore at Mount Desert Light Station, Maine. 

 It had probably been killed by whalers from Maine or Provincetown (C. W. Smiley: Bull. 

 I. S. Fish Cornm., 1885, vol. 5, p. 337). 



Mr. John F. Holmes, keeper of the Gurnet Life Saving Station, 4j miles northeast of 

 Plymouth, Mass., reports that on July 5th, schools of whales and porpoises appeared near 

 that station. The former were no doubt Finbacks in pursuit of small fish and were followed 

 by mackerel, of which on July 7th, "a large quantity was taken" (C. W. Smiley: Bull. U. S. 

 Fish Comm., 1885, vol. 5, p. 347). This same abundance of Finbacks was reported by Captain 

 .!. W. Collins, who on July 13th, found these and swordfish in unusual numbers between Brown's 

 Bank and the northeastern extremity of George's Bank. "As many as 20 whales were seen 

 at one time during the morning, and a still greater number were seen during the afternoon. 

 At station 2528 [lat. 41 47' N.; long. 65 37' 30" W.] they were very numerous, apparently 

 feed ing on small Crustacea, probably from 40 to 50 whales being in sight at one time. They 

 v. (>!<> all Finbacks, so far as I could tell. Their movements were sluggish, as they 'played' 

 back and forth in the tide rips, with their mouths open, the upper jaw just at the surface, 

 srn..ping in 'feed' " (J. W. Collins: Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 1886, vol. 6, p. 381). 



1885. On July 7th, Capt. Joshua Nickerson shot one in Massachusetts Bay. Many 

 squid in Provincetown Harbor at this tune (J. Henry Blake). 



The Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror (vol. 65, no. 48, May 30, 1885) recounts that on May 

 121 h, the New York pilot boat, Alexander M. Lawrence, No. 4, when nearly twenty miles east of 

 Nantucket, and making about thirteen knots, came into collision with a large whale. The 

 shock was so great that the vessel careened until the water nearly reached the hatches. Those 

 below immediately rushed on deck and looking aft, saw the whale rolling and tumbling about. 

 Probably it was one of the large Rorquals. 



About July 9th, Capt. John Winslow while out swordfishing, encountered a whale some 

 nine miles southwest of Muskeget. The species is not mentioned, but it was presumably a 

 Finback (Nantucket Journal, vol. 7, no. 41, July 9, 1885). 



A dead whale was ashore at Nobadeer, Nantucket, about the first of September (Nantucket 

 Journal, vol. 7, no. 49, Sept. 3, 1885). It was supposed to be the same one previously exhibited 

 at Siasconsct, and doubtless was one of the many Finbacks shot by the Provincetown whalers. 



In the summer of this year a Finback was seen in Easton's Bay, R. I., by a number of 

 people, including Mr. Philip Peckham, Jr., on whose authority Major E. A. Mearns reports 

 the fact to me. 



1886. Whales were "numerous off the New England coast" in June of this year, and 



