1908.] Allen, The North Atlantic Right Whale. 321 



Size. The largest American specimen thus far recorded is the adult 

 female taken at Amagansett, Long Island, February 22, 1907, which, ac- 

 cording to the measurements taken by the whalemen and given to Mr. 

 Andrews, was 56 feet 7 inches from the tip of the snout to the end of the 

 flukes, or 54 feet from the tip of the snout to the notch of the flukes, as 

 measured by Mr. Andrews himself. A much younger female, taken at the 

 same time and place, was about one fourth less in linear measurements, 

 with a disproportionately much shorter head. The next largest American 

 specimens are two taken on the coast of North Carolina, respectively an 

 adult female and an adult male, which measured (total length), according 

 to Brimley, respectively 53 feet and 50 feet. 1 Nearly all of the other Ameri- 

 can specimens of which measurements have been recorded were obviously 

 immature. According to Guldberg, the largest of six Iceland specimens had 

 a total length of 51 feet 8 inches; the next largest, 47 feet 7 inches. As 

 already said, all of the extant European specimens are young, and hence 

 not comparable with adults. The largest European specimen of which 

 measurements have been recorded is the Re Island example, captured in 

 1680, and repor ed variously as adult and young, with a total length of 50 

 feet 7 inches. The length of adults of this species may be regarded, there- 

 fore, as ranging from about 48 to 54 feet. Measurements based on the 

 skeleton seem to average, in a full-grown specimen, about 5 feet less than 

 the total length in the flesh. Something depends upon how the external 

 measurements are taken, as differences of method may considerably vary 

 the results, and especially the ratio of the length of the head to the total 

 length. It is evident, however, that the length of the head is dispropor- 

 tionately less in young animals than in adults. 



Color. According to the published descriptions of this whale, the color 

 is usually a uniform "ivory black," "deep black," or "blue black," but, 

 as in other whales that are ordinarily wholly black, they are subject to white 

 mottling, especially on the pectoral limbs, the flukes, and lower surface of 

 the body, which, in rare instances, may be largely white. Mr. H. H. 

 Brimley in a paper on 'Whale Fishing in North Carolina' 2 thus describes 

 the coloration of specimens taken on the coast of North Carolina: "Its 

 color is a dense shining ivory black above, while below the color and ap- 

 pearance is that of the purest polished ivory white, the white often extend- 



natural history draftsman James Henry Blake, of Cambridge, Mass., and are not only artistic 

 but P9ssess the utmost accuracy. For the use of the material I am indebted to Mr. Alexander 

 Agassiz, for so many years Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. The specimen 

 from which they were taken was captured at Provincetown, Mass., in April, 1864, by Captain 

 N. E. Atwood and Capt. R. Soper, and secured by Professor Louis Agassiz for the Museum 

 through the Gray Fund. 



1 Cf. True, I. c., p. 246. 



2 Bulletin of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, Vol. XIV, No. 7, April, 1894, 

 pp. 4-8, with illustrations. 



[April 1908.} 21 



