a rare Cetacean at the Mouth of the Dee. 269 



Z I subsequently sent the skull to Dr. Gray for comparison ; 

 and he confirmed my supposition of its being an individual of 

 the species above named, namely, L. albirostris, which was 

 founded upon a specimen taken at Great Yarmouth in October 

 1845, and recorded by Mr, Brightwell in the * Annals' for 

 1846 (vol. xvii. p. 21, pi. 2), under the name of Delphinus 

 tursio. 



This addition to our local fauna is a matter of considerable 

 interest, as its place of capture comes within the range taken by 

 Mr. Byerley in his "Fauna of Liverpool," published in the 

 'Transactions of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liver- 

 pool,' in 1854, and in which only two Cetaceans are recorded, 

 namely, Phoccena communis and Hyperoodon Butzkopf. 



The general colour is a rich black. A long and narrow greyish 

 streak extends on either side diagonally across the ribs ; and a 

 similar greyish hue occurs on each side of the dorsal ridge, 

 extending nearly from the fluke to the tail. The beak white, 

 irregularly blotched with blackish, the white extending slightly 

 above the constriction of the beak. The under jaw and throat 

 milk-white, which colour extends along the belly, but becomes 

 less clear as it approaches the vent. Its dimensions were as 

 follows : — 



feet, inches. 



Total length from snout to cleft of tail .... 9 



Length of gape \0\ 



„ of beak 2i 



„ of under jaw beyond the upper . . ^ 



„ from snout to eye 1 \\ 



„ „ to blow-hole 1 3 



„ „ to commencement of 



dorsal fluke 3 11 



„ „ to end of ditto 5 6 



„ „ to pectoral fin 1 9 



Breadth of tail 2 5 



Deflection of cleft of tail from a line drawn 



between its tips 63- 



Girth in front of pectoral fin 3 11 



„ „ dorsal fluke 5 



„ behind dorsal fluke 4 3 



The body becomes much attenuated towards the tail. Im- 

 mediately in front of the dorsal fluke, the vertical and transverse 

 diameters are nearly identical, the former being 3H inches, and 

 the latter 30^. Halfway between the end of the fluke and the 

 commencement of the tail, the vertical diameter is 13 inches, 

 and the transverse 6| ; and immediately before the commence- 

 ment of it, the vertical diameter is 4^ inches, and the transverse 

 2^, or exactly one-half. 



