32 



MAMMALS. 



Balaenoptera rostrata {Fab.). Lesser Rorqual, or Sea-pike. 



The earliest date I can give for the occurrence of this small species 

 within the confines of our area is the imperfect record as it stands in 

 the Scots Magazine (vol. xxviii., July 1766, p. 387), where the note is 

 given : "A whale was cast ashore this summer within a mile of 

 St. Andrews, 31 feet long, 27 feet broad at the middle, and 10 feet at 

 the fin of the tail ; its mouth as large as a house-door." ^ 



One of this species was found dead off Bell Rock on 7th September 

 1857, and was deposited in the Edinburgh Museum (now the "Royal 

 Scottish Museum " by name !) It was measured as fourteen feet in 

 length (v. Royal Phys. Soc. Edin., vol. i. pp. 441-7). 



One was obtained near Arbroath, on the Forfar coast, on 29th July 

 1869, the baleen of which was in the possession of Mr. Robert Walker, 

 who records the specimen in the Scot. Nat. (vol. i. p. 111). 



In April 1877 one was stranded at Bervie on the Kincardineshire 

 coast {v. Dr. Struthers's Anatomy of Megajptera longimana, Edin., 1889 ; 

 Journxil of Anatomy and Physiology, etc., vol. xxii., 1888). 



Family DELPHINIDJE. 



[Grampus griseus {G. Cuv.). Risso's Grampus. 



Ohs. — Though I am not aware of any occurrence of this rare cetacean actually 

 within our present area or coast-line, I mention here the occurrence which 

 was duly reported by Dr. Ramsay H. Traquair {Annals Scot. Nat. Hist., 

 1899, pp. 197-8). My interest in doing so is of some faunal significance, 

 because the question has often suggested itself to me, Whether should I 

 include the Bell Rock with the Fauna of Tay or with the Fauna of Forth ? 

 The Isle of May is certainly the " Key of the Forth migrations," but I am 

 inclined to be less certain of the value of the Bell Rock as a stepping-stone 

 of migratory birds, and certainly if we consider how much richer Forth is in 

 cetacea than Tay, it makes a somewhat interesting point to record such as 

 occur so near our boundaries. To treat of this in detail, however, may well 

 be left to Mr. William Evans, when he gives us his finished work on the 

 Fauna of Forth. I only mention it here in an Obs. because I have not yet 

 made up my mind about the value of Bell Rock as influencing the two faunas 

 of Tay and Forth, and this I cannot do until I can carefully go over the old 

 Migration Schedules, which are not at present in my hands. 



In the same way I may take this opportunity of mentioning that the 

 Common Dolphin {Delphinus delphis) has occurred " round the corner," in 

 Forth, but I have no certainty of its having been found anywhere along the 



1 Indeed, this can scarcely be admitted as a true record. It may have been 

 Megaptera. 



