250 



THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 



Among the American specimens, we find that the Charleston whale was en- 

 tirely black. The Egg Harbor, New Jersey, whale was also black. 



The Cape Lookout specimen, captured March 20, 1894, a female, was said to 

 be a " white-bellied " one. The figure published in the Bulletin of the North 

 Carolina Dept. of Agriculture (14, No. 7, April, 1894, p. 4) shows the whole under 

 surface light colored, from a point in advance of the eye to the anus, the white 

 area extending up to the base of the pectorals and having irregular margins. If 

 the drawing was correctly made from the specimen itself, it indicates a remarkable 

 color variation. In a letter Mr. H. H. Brimley remarks that this specimen had 

 " a great deal of pure white on its under side." 



The foregoing facts may be summed up as follows: 



Three specimens of the European Nordcaper are recorded as being entirely 

 black, and the Iceland specimens were also black, with the exception of one young 

 one, which was reported to be lighter colored on the belly. Of three American 

 specimens, two are recorded as entirely black, and one (adult female) as having " a 

 great deal of pure white on its under side." (See pi. 46, figs. 1 and 2.) 



OSTEOLOGICAL CHARACTERS NUMBER OF VERTEBRAE. 



The skeleton of the European Nordcaper has been described in detail and 

 figured by Gasco (47 and 48*), Graells (52), Capellini (13), and Guldberg (59). 

 The skeleton of American specimens has been described and illustrated by Holder 

 (61) and Manigault (68). (See pis. 42-46.) 



The number of vertebrae has been given by these authors for several individ- 

 uals, as follows : 



BALMNA OLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA. 



BALMNA OLACIALIS BONNATERRK. AMERICAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA. 



1 Gasco gives 13 pairs of ribs, but thinks there may have been 14 pairs. Hence, the formula 

 was perhaps 7, 14, 12 (or n), 23 (or 24) = 56. "U. S. National Museum, No. 23077, 



' Amer. Mus. Nat History. "Holder states that the total is "probably 57." 'Or 12. 



4 Possibly only 10 lumbars. ' Type of B. dsarctica. ' Mus. Comp. Zoology. ' Field Col. Mus., Chicago. 



