48 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
head measured, as nearly as possible, one-third of the length of 
the whole body. 
From the 18th to the 29th we were engaged in cruising south- 
westwards, over the best and usually the most productive parts 
of the South Greenland fishing-grounds, between lat. 72° and 73° - 
and long. 15° W. The coast of Greenland was frequently in 
sight, the tops of the mountains dipping on the western horizon. 
The ice, which was mostly in the form of large floes, was only 
newly opening out, and hence the colour of the water, which 
was everywhere uniformly clear and blue. In accordance with 
the scarcity of vegetable life there was a general want of animals, 
a solitary ‘“‘ Finner” and an occasional school of Narwhals being 
the only representatives of the Cetaceans. A few notes which I 
made concerning the habits of the Blue Fin-whale,* Balenoptera 
Sibbaldi, may be of interest :— 
Several of these Whales were observed feeding at the edges of 
the floes. When feeding under such circumstances a sinuous 
course is pursued, the animal being alternately under the ice, in 
search of its food, and outside the edge of the floe, where it 
approaches the surface for the purpose of breathing. The period 
under water in one instance was eight minutes, during which the 
Whale had moved along the edge of the ice about a quarter of a 
mile before again appearing at the surface to breathe, while the 
period at or near the surface was about three and a half minutes, 
during which it rose to the surface at regular intervals of twenty- 
six seconds, blowing once on each occasion. While feeding in 
this manner, owing to the distance performed horizontally, the 
depth to which the animal descends must be trifling ; in fact, the 
animal is probably obtaining its food immediately under the 
surface of the ice. This view is supported by several facts. On 
several occasions I have noticed an immense number of Crusta- 
ceans, of the genus Gammari, collected under the surface of the 
ice; in the case of a piece of ice being displaced, by contact 
with the ship, they are frequently exposed. Again, a field of ice 
having become broken by the action of swell and intersected by 
narrow cracks, great numbers of small fishes, belonging to the 
* To this animal, the Blue Whale of the Norwegians (see Mr. Cock’s 
remarks), the general term “‘ Finner” is applied by Scotch writers without 
any restriction. The terms might be advantageously combined. I propose 
the name adopted in the text, ‘‘ Blue Fin-whale.” 
