PILOT-WHAJiE. 453 



CETA CEA . DELPHINIBJE. 



(OBONTOOETI.) 



Genus Globicephalus (Lesson, 1842). 



Generic Character ; — Head rounded ; no beak. Dorsal-fin long ; flippers 

 very long and narrow, the second digit having 14 phalanges. Teeth large, 

 conical, many of them soon lost. 



PILOT-WHALE. 



Globicephalus melas (Trail). 



Specific Character : — Black, a whitish stripe along the belly, forrainc in 

 front a heart-shaped spot under the throat. Teeth sometimes 'f |^, generally 

 fewer ; vertebra; 56, and ribs 12 pairs. Length of adnlt 16 to 20 feet. 



Delphinus melas, Tkail, Nichols. Journ., XXII., 81 (1809). 



„ glohiceps, Cuviek, Ann. du Mus., XIX., 1, pi. I. (1812). 



,, dednctor, Scokesbt, Arct. Kegions, I., 496. 



Ca'ing Whale of Orcadians. Grinderal of Faroese. Bottle-head, Bottle- 

 nose, and Grampus of English fishermen. 



Our knowledge of the habits of many of the ceta- 

 ceous animals is so meagre, and our opportunities of 

 observing them are so rare and imperfect, that it is often 

 difficult to seize upon any facts of interest and impor- 

 tance to enliven the dry detail of formal description. 

 Such, hov\'ever, is not the case with the present remark- 

 able species. From the sociability of its habits, its 

 strong instinct of attachment, and a tendency to imita- 



