THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 63 



his views regarding certain species treated of in the present connection. Under the 

 heading of Balcena australis he remarks : " Under this name are provisionally 

 included various forms which have been specifically separated either according to 

 locality or from trifling structural peculiarities. Possibly some are distinct, but 

 a more thorough study, with more ample materials than are at present available, 

 will be necessary before their characters can be satisfactorily defined." Under this 

 species he includes specimens from New Zealand, South Africa, Atlantic coast of 

 North America (cast of ear-bones of type of Balcena cisarctica Cope), coast of Great 

 Britain, North Pacific, South Seas, and Sandwich Islands. Under Megaptera boops 

 he remarks : " It is uncertain whether all the following specimens of Megaptera 

 should be referred to one species or to several. If more than one, their distinctive 

 characters have not been as yet clearly defined." The specimens included are 

 from Greenland, California, and New Zealand. Under Balcenoptera rostrata (= B. 

 acuto-rostrata) he includes specimens from Weymouth and the Thames River, Eng- 

 land, and from Greenland. 



The American Field for March 12, 1887, p. 246, contains the following note: 



" Several whales were sighted off Amagansett, L. I., March 2, and several 

 crews started in pursuit. A large cow whale was killed the same afternoon. . . 

 The whale, which is about 60 feet in length, will bring its captors about $1,200 

 for oil and bone." 



Dr. H. Bolau published between 1885 and 1895 three excellent summaries of 

 the natural history and geographical distribution of the larger and more important 

 cetaceans of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. 1 Though they do not contain 

 much original matter, the best observations are condensed and brought together in 

 a very convenient form, and the charts show careful study and a thorough under- 

 standing of the subject and familiarity with the literature. American observations 

 and American species receive a large share of attention. 



The Reports and Bulletins of the United States Fish Commission contain 

 numerous references to whales, many of which, though brief, are of considerable 

 importance. As these references are scattered through a score of volumes, I have 

 thought it desirable to collect them here for convenience. The Bulletins contain 



O 



the following : 



[FINBACK WHALE AT GLOUCESTER, MASS.] 



" Recently a carcass of a Finback whale 55 feet long drifted ashore on Long 

 Beach, some ten miles from here [Gloucester, Mass.], opposite Milk Island. (July 

 23, 1880.)" 8 



"Whales are close to the shore. [Gloucester, Mass., May 7, 1882.] " 3 



1 BOLAU, H., Ueber die wichtigsten Wale des Atlantischen Ozeans und ihre Verbreitung in 

 demselben. Segelhandbuche fiir den Atlantischen Ozean, Deutsche Seewarte, 14 Kap., 1885. 



Ibid, Die geographische Verbreitung der wichtigsten Wale des Stillen Ozeans. Abhandl. Gebiete 

 Naiurwis., 13, 1895. Also separate. 



* CLARK, A. HOWARD, Notes on the Fisheries of Gloucester, Mass. Bull. U. S. Fish Com., 4, 

 1884, p. 407. 



'MARTIN, S. J. Bull. U. S. Fish Com., 2, 1882, p. 17. 



