fHE SCEAG AND THl3 DEVIL-FISfl. 31 



and grew up without parental care, which has caused a slight modification. The most prominent 

 feature is that in its dorsal ridge, near the tail, there are a number of small projections or bunches, 

 having some resemblance to the teeth of a saw. It has no dorsal fin or hump on its back.''^ 



Douglass, writing in 1748, also mentioned the Scrag and the humps upon its body. 



Cope has formed for this whale the genus Agaphelus, and it stands in the lists under the name 

 Agaphelus gibhosus [Erxl.] Cope. 



The Scrag is of special interest on account of its influence in first developing the whaling 

 industries of Kantucket. Macy, the historian of the island, states that in the very early days of that 

 colony, prior to 1672, "A whale of the kind called the Scragg came into the harbor and continued 

 there three days. This excited the curiosity of the people and led them to devise measures to prevent 

 his return out of the harbor. They accordingly invented and caused to be wrought for them a 

 harpoon with which they attacked and killed the wliale. This first success encouraged them to 

 undertake whaling as a permanent business; whales being at that time numerous in the vicinity 

 of the shores." ' 



Scammon remarks: " Our observations make it certain that there is a ' Scrag' Eight Whale m 



the North Pacific which corresponds very nearly to that of the Southern Ocean, - - and 



which yields a paltry amount of oil."' No identification of this form has yet been made. Dieffen- 



bach states that in the southern seas "Scrags" is the whalers' name for the young of the right 



whale.^ 



16. THE CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE, 



Distribution. — The California Gray Whale, RhacManectes glaucus Cope, called by whalemen 

 "Devil-fish," " Hard Head," " Gray Back," "Rip Sack," and " Mussel Digger," though long known 

 to fishermen, was first described in 1869, from specimens brought to the United States National 

 Museum by Capt. W. H. Dall, of the United States Coast Survey. The only account of its habits 

 is in Scammon's book, already often quoted. Its range is from the Arctic Seas to Lower Cali- 

 fornia. From November to May it is found on the California coast, while in summer it resorts to 

 the Arctic Ocean and the Okhotsk Sea. In October and November it is seen oft' Oregon and 

 Upper California, returning to warm water for the winter. 



Habits. — They follow close along the shore, often passing through the kelp, and congregate 

 in the lagoons of the southern coast, where they are the objects of the extensive lagoon or bay 

 whale fishery. 



Abundanck. — Their abundance in former years and at present was thus discussed by Captain 

 Scammon in 1874: "It has been estimated, approximately, by observing men among the shore 

 whaling pai'ties that a thousand whales passed southward daily from the 15th of December to the 

 1st of February, for several successive seasons after shore whaling was established, which occurred 

 in 1851. Captain Packard, who has been engaged in the business for over twenty years, thinks 

 this a low estimate. Accepting this number without allowing for those which xiassed off shore out 

 of sight from the land, or for those which passed before the 15th of December, and after the 1st 

 of February, the aggregate would be increased to 47,000. Captain Packard also states that at the 

 present time the average number seen from the stations passing daily would not exceed forty. 

 From our own observation upon the coast, we are inclined to believe tliat the numbers resorting 

 annually to the coast of California from 1853 to 1856 did not exceed 40,000 — probably not over 

 30,000; and at the present time there are many which pass off shore at so great a distance as to 



'Allen : Mammalia of Massachusetts. <^Bul]etin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 8, p. 203. 



=Macy: History of Nantucket, p. 28. 



"Scammon: loo. cit., p. 67. 



■•DiEPFENBACu, E. : Travels in New Zealand, i, 1843, p. 45. 



