i8 



CETACEANS. 



species have an almost cosmopolitan distribution : but there is some evidence that 

 the Indian seas possess two other species with a much more limited distribution. 



Most of the fin-whales feed mainly on fish, the larger species consuming an 

 enormous quantity of cod. 



Lesser The smallest representative of the group is the lesser fin-whale, 



Fin-Whale. or rorqual (Bakenoptera rostrata), frequently known, from its pointed 

 muzzle, as the pike-whale. It is represented in the accompanying figure. The 

 average length of this species varies from 2o to 30 feet, and a length of 33 feet 

 is but very seldom exceeded. The general colour of the upper-parts is greyish 

 black, while the whole of the under surface, inclusive of the flukes, is white. The 

 most distinctive characteristic of the species is. however, the broad band of white 

 running across the upper part of the outer surface of the flippers, which forms a 

 striking contrast to the black of the remainder. The flippers measure about one- 

 eighth the entire length of the animal, and the number of pairs of ribs is eleven. 

 The whalebone is nearly white. 



This whale is by no means rare on the British coast ; and an example was 

 captured off the Scilly Islands so lately as 1887, while two were taken in the Firth 



SKELETON OF UN-WHALE. 



of Forth in the year following. It is more common on the shores of Norway, where 

 it is frequently captured in the bays an I fjords ; the natives stretching a net across 

 the mouth, after one or more whales have entered, and then despatching them with 

 spears. Its habits in North American waters, where it is known as the sharp- 

 nosed finner, are described by Captain Scammon. He writes that this whale 

 '■frequently gambols about vessels when under way. darting from one side to 

 another beneath their bottoms. When coming to the surface, it makes a quick, 

 faint spout, such as would be made by a suckling of one of the larger ( letaceans, 

 which plainly accounts for whalemen taking it to be the young of more bulky 

 species. At sea the sharp-headed finners are seldom seen in pairs, but wander 

 solitarily along, frequently changing their course in the depths below, and meander- 

 ing along the whole continental coast of the North Pacific, occasionally visiting the 

 large estuaries about the shore. They pass through Behring Sea and Strait into 

 the Arctic Ocean where they appear to be as much at home as their superiors in 

 size." The writer then goes on to say that, like the Pacific grey whale, " they 

 thread the icy floes, and frequently emerge through the narrow fissures bolt upright, 

 with their heads above the broken ice, to blow. When roaming about the inland 

 waters of lower latitudes, they often shoot along the shallow waters of the bays in 

 search of the myriads of small fry on which they mainly sustain themselves." 



Eden's fin-whale (B. edeni), from the Indian seas, is only known by skeletons, 

 and appears to be closely allied to the present species, but attains somewhat 



