310 ALLEN: NEW ENGLAND WHALEBONE WHALES. 



These facts lead us to inquire further into the movements of the Humpback in the North 

 Atlantic. Guldberg (1904, p. 376) has summarized a number of observations bearing on the 

 movements 'of Humpbacks on the European coasts, Greenland and adjacent seas. He con- 

 cludes that the Humpbacks of the North Atlantic frequent the higher latitudes in summer and 

 fall, and for the rest of the year scatter in the search for better feeding grounds, which for the 

 most part they find in the more southern latitudes. It is certain that our present knowledge 

 on this matter is quite insufficient for more than tentative conclusions. In the western North 

 Atlantic, however, I have gathered a number of facts as to the presence of this species, which 

 may be briefly summarized. In late winter, especially in February and March, Humpbacks 

 are found with young calves among the islands of the Lesser Antilles and the Bermudas. Among 

 the Grenadines (Lesser Antilles) the Humpback fishery is followed from January to May, 

 during which time, single whales, cows with calves, and groups consisting of a pair with a calf, 

 are to be found. Verrill records that among the Bermudas the Humpbacks were found in the 

 same months with young calves and in former days were actively pursued there. They begin 

 to appear off the New England coasts in April, are common here in summer, and reach the 

 coasts of Newfoundland in numbers by late April, May, and June. By late summer they pene- 

 trate Davis Strait and Baffin's Bay on the South Greenland coast. Guldberg says that from 

 January to April 19, 1902, only five were killed on the Newfoundland coasts by the steam- 

 whalers, but from that date till the end of August about a hundred were captured. These facts 

 tend to show that during the colder months, December through March, most of the Hump- 

 backs of the western North Atlantic are to be found inside (south of) the Gulf Stream area, 

 and that their young are born in those warmer waters. They are not necessarily in coastal 

 waters at these times, for I have records of Humpbacks, March 28th and March 29th, near 

 27 11' N., 50 07' W., and 26 38' N., 48 58' W., respectively, a pair in each case. By April 

 they work north. Those in the Caribbean Sea have left it by May, and those that wintered 

 farther north (as we may suppose) are already appearing on the New England coasts. The 

 northward movement continues till late summer, when there is a withdrawal to the Gulf Stream 

 waters and southward to the sub-tropics. No doubt, as with migrating birds, this is a gradual 

 process and it may be that those animals that wintered farthest north, are, the ones to reach 



our coast first and that they are the same schools that push to the higher latitudes and the 







Greenland waters, while those that wintered farthest south spend the summer in our waters. 

 As with birds, also, there are always a few stray individuals that from accident or choice find 

 it possible to winter to the north of the general winter range of the species, so that it is not 

 surprising to find a few even on the Newfoundland coast in the cold months. These we should 

 expect to be nonbreeding cows or bulls. It is known also that they may be present in the 

 Finmark waters in February and March. 



What determines these migratory movements is yet uncertain. Temperature undoubtedly 



