Occurrence of the Boftlc-Noscd or Beciled Wlinle. 



4n 



to the front of the animal's head an abrnptly vertical profile, 

 so well seen in Captain Gray's figures, which at once dis- 

 tinguishes it from the convex profile of the female and young 

 male. 



I shall now give some comparative measurements of the 

 four crania of Hyfcrooclon rostratus in the Anatomical 

 Museum of the University of Edinburgh : — 



I have been careful to name the months in which the speci- 

 mens of Hyijcroodon for the first time recorded in this paper 

 were captured, as they corroborate the statements made by 

 other naturalists that the autumn is the time when Hyi^cr- 

 oodon, in its annual southward migration from the Arctic 

 Ocean, visits the coasts of ]N"orth-Western Europe. Our best 

 authorities on the geographical distribution and migration of 

 this whale are the late Professor Eschricht^ and Captain 

 David Gray of the whaling steamer " Eclipse," ^ and the latter 

 authority states that Hyper oodon is not seen in summer 

 further south than a day's sail from the ice. September and 

 October are the two months in which it most usually has 



^ Die Nordischen Wallthiere, Leipzig, 1849. 



2 Proc, Zool. Soc. London, Dec. 19, 1882, p. 726. 



