510 California. Gray Whale. 
regularity and system which constitutes what we call migration. 
With these this habit is as regular as the recurrence of the season, 
and is no doubt as universal as is that of most aquatic birds. 
Wintering in the south, this migration to the north commences 
in the spring, first with the males, who having no domestic duties or 
cares to detain them, leisurely proceed northward, and they are soon 
followed by the females with their young so soon as the latter are 
large enough to undertake the long journey. Not that either sex 
move in a body and together, for they are scattered along the coast 
for even months, though they generally move in schools of greater 
or less numbers, among which both males and females may occur. 
Undoubtedly the former were laggards, while the latter were of the 
advance of the females. 
Of all the families of whales, of this alone has it been possible to 
study the breeding habits with satisfactory results. 
Along the coast, in the southern part of their range, numerous 
lagoons are found indenting the shores, near the mouths or outlets 
of which, bars occur on which the surf breaks with great violence 
when the sea is rough, while the waters within are placid. These 
lagoons are the favorite breeding grounds of these whales, where 
they congregate in great numbers to bring forth their young, which 
occurs during the winter months, say from November till March. 
Although the fiercest fighters of all known whales it has not been 
known that they are quarrelsome among themselves. So far as 
known, peace and quiet prevails among all the members crowded 
together in the upper ends of these water enclosures or lying-in 
hospitals. But few males have been observed to intrude themselves 
into the privacy of these retreats. The period of gestation is said to 
be about twelve months, and from analogy impregnation takes place 
within a very few days after the young are brought forth. Eliott’s 
exhaustive observations show that such is the case with the fur 
seals, whose period of gestation is the same. Indeed, this mast be 
so, when the period of gestation nearly corresponds with the year, 
else there could be no regularity in the time when the young arè 
brought forth, but it would occur irregularly at all seasons of the 
year. 
Another peculiarity of this whale is its fondness for sport or play : 
While this habit is solitary it is distinctly manifest. Its favorite 
amusement is to sport in the breakers or the bars at the entrance to 
bays, lagoons and rivers, and the greater the breakers, the more do 
