456 



fish. The Rev. Mr. Barclay states that it eats cod and 

 ling, but its favourite food seems to be the cuttle-fish, of 

 which great quantities are usually found in its stomach. 



The female has generally only one young one, which is 

 more than three feet long at birth. It appears to be 

 born late in summer, and to be suckled throughout the 

 winter. 



The names " Pilot- Whale," " Ca'ing " or Driving 

 Whale, and Scoresby's specific name of deductor, all 

 allude to the habit of the animal already dilated on, of 

 following a leader either for good or evil. Fishermen 

 and sailors usually term it the " Bottle-nose," but that 

 term is applied by them to many very distinct animals. 



The forehead is bluff and rounded, the jaws short, the 

 upper being slightly the longest, the upper lip thick and 

 fleshy. The blow-hole is crescentic, concave in front, 

 the eyes very small, and placed near the angle of the 

 gape. The body is thickest just in front of the dorsal- 

 fin ; towards the tail it is much compressed with a sharp 

 dorsal and ventral outline. The flippers are very long, 

 narrow and sabre-shaped, broadest near the base, but 

 narrowed at the wrist. The dorsal-fin is long and 

 sloping, the tail lunate, deeply cleft, and tapered at the 

 points. 



The colour is rich deep black all over, excepting a 

 white heart-shaped mark under the throat, extending in 

 a broad whitish stripe along the breast and belly. 



The teeth are conical, slightly curved, and less than an 

 inch in length ; they vary much in number, but the 

 normal dentition would appear to be - 2 ' 22 to -2-4^3 ; i n 



24'2 4 24'<24 ' 



old individuals many of them are lost. 



The skeleton has usually fifty-five or fifty-six vertebrae, 

 the cervicals being generally separate, except the second 

 and third ; there are twelve pairs of ribs. Dr. Murie has 



