210 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



have been given of what is after all, so far as we yet kaow, 

 onl_y one species, I think it best not to aid to tha existing 

 confusion by publishing a fresh description which I ana not able 

 to substantiate. 



Ten minutes later we saw another Humpback to starboard. 

 Less than half an hour later, a Blue Whale was blowing very 

 strongly on our starboard side ; and half an hour later, again, 

 what were probably three " Sildehvale " (the "Herring-whale" 

 variety of the Common Rorqual) to port of us ; and then another 

 Whale was sighted just beyond these by one of the men, which, 

 presently coming rather close to us, proved to be a Common Ror- 

 qual. A little farther on, again, far away to poi't, another Whale, 

 which blew frequently, but too far off to identify, was supposed 

 to be either a " Sildehval" or a Humpback ; and in the evening, 

 about an hour's run (nine knots) south of Bodd, we passed a 

 small Whale. Capt. Horn coming through Vest Fjord on his 

 way south, on Oct. 1st, passed four " Sildehvale " within a short 

 distance of Lodingen. 



The last Whale I met with was only about fifty miles from the 

 Yorkshire coast, as we were running towards the Humber on the 

 morning of October 10th. On the fishing gi'ound known to 

 trawlers as the " Great Silver Pits " (30 to 40 fathoms) we passed 

 close to a Dutch fisherman from Schlevingen, in the act of hauling 

 in his net. About fifty Gannets were in attendance overhead, 

 while below a small Whale — perhaps a Lesser Rorqual — was 

 steadily breakfasting on the fish that managed to escape from the 

 meshes of the net. 



With regard to the time when the different species of Finwhale 

 appear on the North European coast, I have the following observa- 

 tions of some of the whalers this last season to offer (the actual 

 date of the killing of the first and last example of each species 

 being stated farther on under the respective species). Probably 

 the first Whale killed last year was a Humpback, yielding six and 

 a half tons of oil (about thirty-nine barrels), killed by Capt. 

 Selliken as he entered Syltefjord on February 24th. Humpbacks 

 are said to arrive on the E. Finmarken coast every February, but 

 the weather was so bad this year as to hinder the fishing ; but it 

 is probable that their numbers are recruited towards the end of 

 the fishing season. Capt. H. Ellevsen came " Indenskjfei's" all 

 the way up the coast in the spring, that is, inside the outer belt 



