The Dugong, Manatees, Whales, Porpoises, and Dolphins 333 



some cases as rare as tlio.=e of the rustic buntiiiy and red-necked nightjar among birds, or of 

 the dcrlno and spotted dragonet among fishes. 



British zoologists, however, usually include the following: — Wiialeeone-whales : Southern 

 Eight-whale; Humpback; Finbacks, or Korquals. Toothed Whales: Sperm-whale, or Cachalot; 

 Narwhal; Beluga, or White Whale; Gramprases ; Beaked Whale; Broad-fronted Whale; Cuvier's 

 Whale ; Sowerby's Whale ; Pilot-Avliale ; Porpoise; Dolphin; White-sided Dolphin; White-beaked 

 Dolpjhin ; Bottlenose. 



A selection niay therefore be made of five of the most rep)resentative of these sjiecies — the 

 SouTiuiRN Whale, the Cachalot, the Narwhal, the Porpoise, and the Dolthix. 



The Southern Whale, which, in conunon witli the closely allied polar species, whaling- 

 crews call " right," seeing that all other kinds are, from tlieir point of view, " wrong," is 

 probably the only right-whale whicti has ever found its way to our shores. Some writers 

 include the Greenland Right-wdiale, but their authority for tliis is doubtful. It is said to grow 

 to a length of at any rate 70 feet, though 55 feet would perhaps lie more common for even 

 large specimens. In colour it is said to be dark abo\'e, with a varying amount of white 

 or grey on the fli2T[)ers and under-surface. The head and mouth are very large, occupying 

 in some cases one-third of the total length, and the baleen-plates measure as much as 8 or 

 10 feet in length and 5 or 6 feet in width. The species has no back-fin, but there 

 is a protuberance on the snout, known technically as the " bonnet." This whale appears to 

 gi\-e birth to its single calf some time in the spring months, and the mother shows great 

 affection for her offspring. Tlie Humpback is distinguished from the right-whales externally 

 by its longer flippers and the prominence on its back, and internally lay the fluted skin 

 of the throat. The Finners, or Rorquals, have a distinct back-fin. They feed on fishes 

 and cuttles, and I have more than once known a rorqual, which looked fully 50 feet long 

 (comparing it roughly wuth my 24-foot lioat), to swim slowly round and round my lugger, 

 down on the Cornish coast, puffing and hissing like a torpedo-boat on its trial trip, rounding 

 up the pilchards in a mass, and every now and then dashing through them open-mouthed with 

 a terrific roar, after several of which helpings it would sink out of sight and not again put in 

 an appearance. 



The Sperm-whale, or Cachalot, may serve as our type of the toothed whales. It 

 attains to the same great dimensions as the largest of the whalebone group. A more active 



<':i«SS!8^^5S!i8»J«='"" 



riioto hy A. 8. lludlaad ,t Son 



C0M3I0X PORPOISE. 

 From 4 to 5 feet long. It lires in " schools," or coniljanies, and pursues the herrings and mackerel. 



