brybe's whale. 1077 



a. horealis. B. hrydei. 



Distance from notch of 31"6 per cent, (of the total 27'2 per cent, (of the total 



flukes to anus. length). length). 



Ventral furrows Extend to the middle of Extend to the umbilicus, 



the belly one foot behind 3'5 feet behind tip of 



tip of flippers. flippers. 



Colour The throat always white: The throat dark bluish- 



the underside behind anus grey: the underside 



bluish black, like the behind anus ^vhite, 



back. sometimes yellowish or 

 whitish grey. 



Bristles of baleen Unusually fine, short, curl- Very thick, long and stiff, 



ing and wool-like, white. not curling, colour gre}'. 

 Food and habits Always small cnistaceans. Fish. When it occasion- 

 chiefly Calanidffi. Never ally takes crustaceans, 

 takes fish. they are Euphausiidse, 

 like the Blue whale. 

 Blows as a rule onlj' once Blows 5-6 times during 

 or twice during each visit each visit to the surface 

 to the surface. (like the Fin- and Blue 

 whales). 

 Migratory. Stationary. 



The distance from the tip of the snout to the angle of the 

 mouth is, as we have seen, 19'4-20'2 per cent, of the total 

 length, about the same as on the fin-whale, whereas in Rudolphi's 

 whale it is only about 17-8 per cent, (according to R. Collett). 

 The tips of the snout and of the lower jaw are also far more 

 acute than in B. borealis, more resembling those of B. physalus. 



The Jlijjpers are very slender and pointed, generally com- 

 paratively short, but varying in length from 8-10'6 per cent, 

 of the total length, and they are thus sometimes remarkably 

 longer than has ever been observed in B. hoi^ealis. Their greatest 

 breadth (at the middle) compared to the length is as 1 to 2'2. 

 Thej^ differ in this respect very much from those of B. borealis, 

 where the proportions are as 1 to 3"5 or 3'6, and they are more 

 like the flippers of B. 2^hysalus. There is often a cut of about 

 an inch in breadth and depth in their posterior margin, near the 

 axilla. 



The dorsal Jin is of very moderate size, and its vertical height 

 only about 2'2-2'4 per cent, of the total length. It is thus smaller 

 than is usual in the fin-whale, and very different from the large 

 dorsal of B. horealis and B. acutorostrata. Its length from the an- 

 terior to the posterior end is only slightly greater than its vertical 

 height. The front margin is convex, with a slightly curved apex, 

 and the hinder margin is deeply concave and often has a small 

 cut in it near the base. The point of the fin is very thin and 

 sharp. The dorsal fin is placed noticeably further back than is 

 the case in Rudolphi's whale — often where it would be on the 

 fin-whale. In twelve adult specimens examined by me the 

 distance from the tip of the snout to the anterior end of the 

 dorsal fin was in most cases 69-70 per cent, of the total length, 

 and in one instance only 65 per cent. In B. horealis the dorsal 



