COMMON BEAKED-WHALE. 423 



was taken in 1783 in the Thames above London Bridge, 

 and our illustration is a copy of the figure of this indi- 

 vidual published by John Hunter in the Philosophical 

 Transactions for 1787 ; its skeleton is still in the Museum 

 of the Royal College of Surgeons. Skeletons of British 

 killed specimens are also to be found in most of the 

 larger provincial Museums, both in England and in 

 Scotland and Ireland. 



The Beaked- Whale, like its immediate allies, appears 

 to be solitary in its habits, never being found in large 

 herds, but either singly or in pairs. Those taken on our 

 coasts are usually females or young ones ; the old bulls, 

 being very shy, are rarely secured. The food of this 

 species is principally cuttle-fish, immense numbers of the 

 horny beaks of these moUusks are usually found in its 

 stomach, often closely packed one inside the other. 



The female has usually a single calf, which is born late 

 in autumn. 



The front is obtusely rounded, being supported by the 

 great maxillary bones of the skull, the snout or beak is 

 depressed and pointed, the blow-hole crescentic, concave 

 in front. The flippers are small and rounded, and the 

 small dorsal-fin is placed very far back. The general 

 colour is a uniform deep black, the lower parts being 

 somewhat lighter. 



The two teeth in the lower jaw are small, conical, and 

 permanently concealed by the gum ; during foetal life 

 thej' are more numerous, but all save this pair are absorbed 

 before birth. The extraordinary appearance of the skull, 

 caused by the great maxillary crests, is shown in the 

 vignette to this article. 



The adult Beaked- Whale attains a length of from 

 twenty to twenty-six feet. The following are some 

 of the measurements of a large female taken at 



