BLACK RIGHT- WHALE — PALLAS 'S CORMORANT 267 



the union of the seven vertebrae of the neck into a solid mass, and the length, 

 narrowness, elasticity, and black colour of the whalebone. There are two species, 

 the Greenland whale (Balcena mysticetus), restricted to the Arctic Ocean, and the 

 black right- whale (B. glacialis), now somewhat rare in the North Atlantic, but still 

 found in all the south seas, and ranging in the North Pacific as far north as Japan. 

 The black species has a relatively smaller head than the Greenland whale, and 

 a broader muzzle, the latter bearing a peculiar horny protuberance commonly 

 known as the "bonnet." The whalebone is also shorter, and the edges of the 

 lower lips form a higher arch. The Atlantic form of this whale was once abundant 

 in European seas, where it was hunted by the Basques and others until the dis- 

 covery of Spitsbergen at the close of the sixteenth century, when, the present 

 species being almost exterminated, attention was directed to the Greenland whale. 

 Paiias's The North Pacific birds, as a whole, are so similar to those of the 



cormorant. North Atlantic and, in somewhat less degree, Indo-Pacific that with 

 the exception of one interesting species they may be passed over without notice on 

 this occasion. The species in question is Paiias's cormorant (Phalacrocorax 

 perspicillatus), which deserves attention on account of its comparatively recent 

 extermination. Like the northern sea-cow, this northern bird was the largest of 

 its tribe. With a bare white ring round each eye and a crest on the head, the 

 plumage in general was dark green both above and below, the neck showing a blue 

 gloss, and the wings and shoulders being deep red. So far as known, this bird was 

 confined to Bering Island, where, at the time of Bering's shipwreck in 1741, it 

 was used as food by the survivors of the crew, and scientifically described by 

 Steller. Its extermination may be attributed to much the same causes as that of 

 the great auk, the destruction of both birds having perhaps been accelerated by 

 volcanic eruptions. The great auk, as already mentioned, was incapable of flight, 

 and in the present species the wings were disproportionately short and the body 

 heavy and clumsy, the weight being about 15 lbs. As it was easily caught and 

 its flesh more appreciated than any other available food, the bird was so much 

 sought after by Bering's shipwrecked crew and those who followed them that 

 when Dr. Stejneger visited the island in 1882 in search of the remains of the northern 

 sea-cow he found the present species had been extirpated some thirty years before. 



