Catalogue of the Mammalia of Connecticut. 353 



*67. Rorqualusf costatus, Dekay, Beaked Whale, Stoning- 

 ton. 



Family Delphinidje. 



*6S. Delphiniis Delphis, Sea Porpoise, Long Island Sound. 

 *69. Globicephalus melas, Dekay, Social Whale, Bridgeport. 

 *70. Phocsena communis, Dekay, Common Porpoise, Long Isl- 

 and Sound. 



*7l. P. orca, Dekay, Grampus, Stonington. 



It is matter of some astonishment, how little is to be learned 

 from the books as yet before the public, on the subject of the 

 whales and dolphins that inhabit the waters of the United States. 

 Dr. Dekay has kindly furnished me with the generic and specific 

 descriptions of the last two families ; but as his report, now in 

 progress of publication, will doubtless soon appear, I have deem- 

 ed it for the present expedient that they should first come before 

 the public in that splendid and most valuable work. No man 

 is probably better acquainted with the species of these two fami- 



*67. Of the beaked whale, it may be said that a specimen sixteen to eighteen 

 feet in length, was taken in Raritan Bay in 1822, and hence we may infer that the 

 east end of our Sound would be as likely to receive such an occasional visitor as 

 that bay ; especially as he is said to be "found in most parts of the Northern At- 

 lantic." 



*68. The sea porpoise is described as having forty eight teeth in each jaw. Dr. 

 Dekay however describes it as having ninety two to ninety five in each jaw. I 

 have a jaw specimen of this species which has ninety six teeth, that is, forty eight 

 on each side. He is found throughout the Atlantic Ocean. 



*69. A specimen of this animal was stranded near Bridgeport a few years since, 

 an account of which will be found in the Am. Jour, of Science, Vol. xxiii, p. 301. 



*70. Numbers of the common porpoise are taken in this town for the sake of 

 the oil, which is usually from three to seven gallons. A captain of a vessel from 

 this place assures me, that he once saw the mother and young of this species by 

 her side, (the young about 3 feet in length, the old is usually from 4 to 6 feet,) the 

 mother had caught a flat fish, and was evidently teaching the young one how to 

 catch it. After taking it in her mouth, she threw it out forward with great force 

 about six feet from her ; and he adds that he saw her repeat this operation at least 

 eight or ten times ! 



*71. This species is from 20 to 2-5 feet in length, and I have on several occasions 

 met in Boston Bay and vicinity, what the fishermen called the grampus, and about 

 this size, and as Dr. Dekay has given him a residence in the waters of New York, 

 I infer that he may probably make us an occasional visit. 



t " jRorg-wa^Ms in the Norwegian tongue means whale with folds." See Nat. 

 Lib. by Sir Wm. Jardine, Vol. 6, p. 125. 



Vol. xLiii, No. 2.— July-Sept. 1842. 45 



