244 CETACEA 
swarms in the fjords. Several specimens have been taken on the 
British coasts, two fine skeletons from the Firth of Forth being pre- 
served in the Edinburgh museums. (2) Balenoptera musculus, the 
Common Rorqual, has a length of 65 to 70 feet, is of a grayish slate 
colour above and white underneath, and the baleen is slate colour 
variegated with yellow or brown. It has usually 62 vertebre, 
of which 15 bear ribs. This is the commonest of all the large 
Whales on the British coasts, scarcely a winter passing with- 
out the body of one being somewhere washed ashore, usually 
after stormy weather, and more frequently on the south coast, 
as this species has a more southern range than the last, and 
frequently enters the Mediterranean. It feeds largely on fish, 
and is frequently seen feasting among shoals of herring. (3) 
Balenoptera borealis, often called Rudolphi’s Whale from its first 
describer, is a smaller species, scarcely attaining a length of 50 feet. 
It is bluish-black above, with oblong, light-coloured spots, whilst 
the under parts are more or less white; the whole of the tail and 
both sides of the flippers are black; the baleen is black, and the 
bristly ends fine, curling, and white; the flippers are very small, 
measuring one-eleventh of the total length of the body. There are 
56 vertebra, with 14 pairs of ribs. This species, according to 
Collett, feeds chiefly on minute crustaceans, mainly Calanus finmar- 
chicus and Euphausia inermis, and not on fish. Until lately it was 
considered the rarest of the Whales of European seas, and was only 
known to science from a few individuals stranded on the coasts of 
northern Europe at long intervals, the skeletons of which have been 
preserved in museums. The most southern point at which it has 
been met with hitherto is Biarritz in France. Since the establish- 
ment of the whaling station near the North Cape it has been shown 
to be a regular summer visitor, and in 1885, 771 individuals were 
captured on the coast of Finmark. (4) Balenoptera rostrata, the 
lesser Fin-Whale or Rorqual, is the smallest species found in the 
northern seas, rarely exceeding 30 feet in length. Its colour is 
grayish-black above, whilst the under side is white, including the 
whole of the lower side of the tail; the inner side of the flippers 
is white ; and there is a broad white band across the outer side, 
which is a very characteristic mark of the species; the baleen is 
yellowish-white. The dorsal fin in this and the last species is 
comparatively high, and placed far forwards on the body. This 
Whale has usually 48 vertebra, 11 of which bear ribs. It is common 
in summer in the fjords of Norway, and is often seen around the 
British Isles. It has been taken, though rarely, in the Mediterranean ‘ 
and ranges as far north as Davis’s Straits. 
Rorquals are met with in almost all seas throughout the world, 
but further and more accurate observations are required before 
their specific characters and geographical distribution can be made 
