384 balj:nid^. 



and then the mighty prey turns on its back in death, 

 amidst the cheers of the successful whalers. No time is 

 lost in towing it alongside the vessel, and the process of 

 " flensing" or removing the blubber is at once proceeded 

 with. The baleen having been removed, the lower jaw- 

 bones, which are very rich in oil, are secured, and the 

 remaining carcase, called by the whalers the krang, is set 

 adrift, a prey to the beasts, birds, and fishes, which flock 

 to an unwonted feast. 



The food of the Greenland Right- Whale seems to con- 

 sist exclusively of certain small species of MoUusks and 

 Crustaceans which inhabit what is known to the whalers 

 as the *' green water ^^ between th& latitudes of 74° and 

 80°, and which feed in their turn on the minute Diota- 

 macecB from which these seas derive their peculiar tint. 

 Among the favourite prey of the Whale, Dr. Brown 

 particularizes three species of Entomostraca, namely, 

 Cetochilus arcticus, C. septrionales, and Arpactes knoxii. 

 There is no good evidence that these Whales ever feed on 

 vertebrate animals. 



The female is said to go with young for nine or ten 

 months, and to produce one young one, rarely two, early 

 in spring, which she suckles for a whole year. Like all 

 the other animals of this order she shows the warmest 

 attachment to her offspring, and if it is harpooned she 

 refuses to leave it, allowing herself to be killed almost 

 without an effort to escape. Consequently, the whaler 

 always strikes a "sucker" when he has the chance, 

 making sure of afterwards securing the mother without 

 difficulty. 



The head of the Greenland Whale is extremely large, 

 occupying one- third of the animaPs entire length, and is 

 narrow above, but vei'y broad, flat, and rounded beneath. 

 The eyes are remarkably small, and are placed near the 



