293 



Bottle-nosed Whale, Hyperoodon rostratus (Chemnitz) 

 stranded at Redheugh Shore, on the Beriuickshire Coast, 

 1st November 1895. By Dr Haruy. (Plate V.) 



On Ist November 1895, during a roughish gale, a young 

 Bottle-nosed Whale {Hyperoodon rostratus) was driven ashore 

 below Redheugh to the eastward of the Preventive Service 

 Station, and between the ruinous Herring House and the 

 accompanying cottage built by Sir John Hall of Dunglass 

 about 1829 or 1830, now used by Salmon fishers, and the 

 lofty projecting point that contains Windylaws Cove. Here 

 it had got entangled among the rugged blue Silurian rocks 

 that lie outside the flatter Old Eed Sandstone series that line 

 the western edge of the bay. I visited it on 4th November 

 1895. It was not easily reached, as the old shore-road has 

 been abandoned and neglected for many years, and is now 

 liable to be encroached on by the sea, or get buried by 

 frequent landslips. Coals were once landed in this neglected 

 haven, and there was a fishery where several boats were 

 maintained, and the sharp-sand was in much demand, and 

 there used to be a constant supply of sea-weed for the 

 adjacent farms after storms, which, owing to a shift in the 

 currents, is seldom stored up here now. 



By the aid of a conveyance, and piloted by a friendly arm, 

 I visited the recent arrival on the 4th November. It had 

 been fastened to a rock by a rope, so that it floated free 

 when reached by the tide. The face and snout of the 

 animal reminded one at once of a Berkshire pig. The most 

 lively figure I have seen of it is that in Lydekker's "Eoyal 

 Natural History." Warue & Co., London, 1893, Vol. m., 

 described pp. 30-33. Fleming's and the Rev. L. Jenyns' 

 Hyperoodon hidens apparently include it; but Physeter hidens 

 of Sowerby is a different animal. It is also Bell's Hyperoodon 

 Butzkopf, but the figure is poor and flat. 



The present example was 15 feet 10 inches long, from the 

 point of the nose to the tail. The dorsal fin is nearer the 

 tail than to the head ; from the snout to its insertion 4 

 feet ; it is 1 1 inches long, and 1 1 inches across, triangular, 

 rather than "lanceolate," arched backwards. Tail half-moon 

 shaped. Width of the tail from tip to tip, measured along 

 the margin, 48 inches; breadth, 16 inches. From the 



