102 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Geographical 



and April." He particularly refers to the " Trumpo," which 

 is evidently the Sperm-Whale, one of which he says was 

 stranded in New England. 



The Hon. Paul Dudley, in the ' Philosophical Transactions ' 

 for 1724 (p. 256), writes an "Essay on the Natural History 

 of Whales .... found on the Coast of New England." 

 He says he is particularly indebted to Mr. J. Coffin, some time at 

 the island of Nantucket, and Mr. Greenhouse, of Yarmouth near 

 Cape Cod, both of them places famous for the whale-fisheries. 

 These fisheries have now disappeared, the fisheries being now 

 carried on in the South Seas. He mentions : — 



1. The Right or Whalebone Whale, which is probably a 

 true Balcena. 



2. The Scrag-Whale. This is evidently the Agaphelus 

 gihhosus of Cope, in character intermediate between the true 

 Whales and the Fin-backs. It has no dorsal fins or throat-folds. 

 This animal probably goes south, and is the "Norwega" of 

 Bahia mentioned by Dr. Hartt. 



3. The Fin-back Whale is most probably a Physalus ; but 

 the North-American Fin-backs have not been described. It 

 may be the same species that goes south as far as Bahia ; and 

 they are called " Ifysf/m." They first appear, according to 

 Dr. Hartt, in the Abrolhos waters at the end of May, and stay 

 until November ; the females often bring their young calves 

 with them and seek the shelter of the reefs. 



4. The Bunch or Humpback-Whale is probably the Mega- 

 ptera osphyia of Cope, described from a skeleton in the museum 

 at Niagara, which he thinks is one of the largest species of 

 Balainidge, and may be the same as Megaptera americana of 

 Bermuda. 



5. The Sperma Cete Whale. 



The same migrations or circummigrations appear in the 

 southern part of the Atlantic and the southern seas. Dr. 

 Dieffenbach informs us that the Sperm-Whale,the Black Whale, 

 the Finner, and the Humpback are found in Cook's Straits in 

 New Zealand. The Sperm-Whale inhabits the open sea and 

 does not approach shallow coasts and inlets, as is the habit of 

 the other whales. The Finner and Humpback are seldom 

 captured, on account of their wildness and celerity ; and they 

 contain only a small quantity of oil. Almost all the Black 

 Whales caught are females and their calves ; indeed it is the 

 affection of the mother for her young that causes her sacri- 

 fice, the young being taken to secure the parent. The male 

 is very rarely caught ; he never approaches the land so near 

 as the female, and is more shy and wild. The cows ap- 

 proach the shallow coast and smooth waters for the purpose 





