42 BALAENOPTERA. 
The Finback Whales are numerous in species and are met with in 
all seas except the Polar. Their baleen is short and of inferior 
quality, and the amount of oil yielded by an individual is small, while 
their activity makes them so difficult to capture that they do not 
afford a sufficient recompense for the risk and labor, unless steam 
vessels and harpoon guns are employed. They are known by various 
names, such as Rorquals, Finbacks, Razor-backs, etc. 
Subfam. |. Baleenopterine. Finback Whales. 
16. Baleenoptera. 
Balznoptera Lacép., Hist. Nat. Cét., 1804, pp. XXXVI, XXXVII, 114- 
141, pls. tv, v. Type Balenoptera gibbar Desmoulins. 
Physalus Lacép., Hist. Nat. Cét., 1804, pp. XL, 219-226. 
Cetoptera Rafin., Analyse Nat., Adden., 1815, p. 219. 
Benedenia Gray, Proc. Zoél. Soc., 1864, p. 211. 
Sibbaldus Gray, Proc. Zo6dl. Soc., 1864, p. 222. 
Sibbaldius Flower, Proc. Zoél. Soc., 1864, p. 391. 
Cuviertus Gray, Cat. Seals, and Whales, 1866, p.144, 1871, p. 54. 
Head small, flat, pointed; body elongate; baleen short, broad; 
pectoral small, narrow, pointed; dorsal small, falcate; cervical verte- 
bre free; skin of throat wrinkled. 
KEY (TO THE SPECIES: 
A. Under parts white. 
a. Width of flukes less than one-fourth total PAGE 
lengthy 2 Soe Uses Te Se een B. davidsont 42 
b. Width of flukes one-fourth total length........ B. velifera 43 
B... Watder parts yellow 2. ete a ee B. sulfurea 43 
28. davidsoni (Balenoptera), Scamm., Proc. Calif. Acad. Scien., 1v, 
1872, p. 269. Elliot, Syn. N. Am. Mamm., rgo1, p. 12. 
DAVIDSON’s WHALE. 
Type locality. Admiralty Inlet, Coast of Washington. 
Geogr. Distr. West coast of North America, Mexico to Bering 
Straits. 
Genl. Char. Dorsal small, falcate; pectorals small, narrow: 
baleen pure white. Laminz 270 on each side, not exceeding 10 feet 
in length. 
Color. Above dull black, beneath white; pectorals and caudal 
black above, white beneath; a white band across pectorals near their 
base; gular folds, 70, milky white, interspaces pinkish. 
Measurements. Totallength, 27 feet; pectorals, 4 feet 1 inch wide; 
height of dorsal, 10 inches; width of flukes, 7 feet, 6 inches. 
