446 DELPHINID^. 



remarked. The opinion of the same distinguished 

 naturalists, that the Aries marinus of Pliny was identical 

 with the present species, is perhaps a more plausible 

 conjecture, for the white mark which is said to have 

 represented the horns of these Sea-Rams may perhaps 

 answer to the spot above the eye of the Killer, ^lian 

 gives a similar description, but some doubt is thrown on 

 the question by the fact that this species has been very 

 rarely taken in the Mediterranean in modern times. 



The Killer is an inhabitant of the North Atlantic 

 and the adjoining seas, extending as far north as Green- 

 land, where it is the Ardlursoak of the natives. It is 

 not rare on the western coasts of Scandinavia, has been 

 taken on those of Holland, Belgium and France, and 

 has occurred in the Mediterranean in at least two in- 

 stances. 



On the British coasts the Killer is most -frequently 

 met with in the north. It is often seen about the Shet- 

 land and Orkney Islands, as mentioned by the Rev. Mr. 

 Barclay and by Messrs. Baikie and Heddle. Dr. Fleming 

 states that in the Firth of Tay " it goes nearly as far 

 up as the salt water reaches, almost every tide at flood 

 during the months of July and August, in pursuit of 

 salmon, of which it devours great quantities ; " but we 

 must remark that the name of Grampus is constantly 

 given by fishermen to the Globicephalus melas, and the two 

 species have consequently often been confounded. Even 

 in the south of England the Killer has occurred in 

 several instances. Three different individuals were 

 taken in the River Thames towards the end of the last 

 centurj', and described by John Hunter ; and the 

 skeleton of one of them is still preserved in the Museum 

 of the Royal College of Surgeons. In the British 

 Museum there is the skull of a specimen taken on the 



