BLUE WHALE. 



247 



whitish over its central part. ' The pectorals are gray above and more or less distinctly mottled 

 like the back. The under surface, anterior margin, and tip above and below are white" (True, 

 1904). The extent of the white tip on the outer surface may be as great as two feet. The flukes 

 underneath are usually colored like the back, with, however, more or less of greyish streaks at 

 the base, running posteriorly. In some individuals the flukes are nearly white below, with 

 the usual streaks of light gray. The inside of the mouth is black, the tongue slate gray. 



In life, the appearance of the back as it comes above water, is mouse color or elephant 

 gray. After death, as in all whales, and with exposure to air, the colors of the body rapidly 

 darken and eventually become quite black, so that unless freshly killed specimens are examined, 

 it is difficult or impossible to judge of the true color of the animal. 



Hair. As in other whales of this genus, hairs are present on the head only, and their 

 number and arrangement are of a very definite nature. In a foetal Blue Whale from New- 

 foundland, 630 mm. long, I found on each side of the snout two distinct longitudinal rows 

 running parallel to the edge of the upper lip. The inner row consists of nine single bristles, 



10 11 



TEXT-FIG. 10. Head of North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) from above, to show narrow rostrum and 

 divergent blowholes (from a photograph of the Provincetown 1909 specimen). 



TKXT-FIG. 11. Head of a foetal Blue Whale (Balaenoplera musculus) to show broad rostrum, slightly divergent 

 blowholes, and the arrangement of the hairs (original). 



rather evenly spaced, the hindermost of which is just back of a line drawn across the posterior 

 ends of the blowholes. The entire row forms a convex line that ends at the commencement 

 of the terminal fourth of the upper jaw. The outer row contains but eight bristles, the two 



