6.8 
The Irish Naturalist, 
April, 1916. 
I may say that next day I found the skeleton of the second Coot (1 
took away the first) neatly picked. All round that island are usually 
swarms of Coots, and other water -fowl — the water black with them in 
winter as a rule. 
On one occasion a few years ago I was walking along the edge of the 
lake when an object in the water attracted my attention. On hooking it 
out with the crook of my stick I was surprised to find the upper half of 
a large Bream, which would have weighed 5 to 6 lbs. when entire ; it 
was alive, and the lower half had been eaten off as cleanly as if cut off 
with an axe. I didn't see the Otter. I had a newspaper in my pocket, so, 
after giving the half fish a couple of knocks on the back of the head, I 
rolled it in the newspaper and slipped it into the " poacher's " pocket 
of my shooting coat. On producing it at the house about an hour after- 
wards it turned out to be still alive, so I thrust the blade of my knife into 
the back of its neck to sever the spinal cord. However, several hours later 
when someone went to inspect it there was still life left and the remains 
flopped about when touched. 
J. FFOLLIOTT DaRLING. 
The Bay, Athlone. 
Cuvier's Whale in Irish Waters. 
Dr. J. F. Harcuer communicated an interesting report to the Zoological 
Society of London last year on the discovery of two specimens of Cuvier's 
Whale {Ziphius curvirostris) on the Irish Coast. This account has now been 
published {Proc. Zool. Soc, 191 5, PP- 559-566). The first of the two 
specimens referred to was stranded at Fethard, Co. Wexford, and proved 
to be a male, measuring 19 feet in length. The pair of large massive 
teeth at the anterior end of the lower jaw indicated that the animal was 
not a Bottle -nosed Whale as was supposed, but a Cuvier's Whale. The 
specimen previously recorded as a Bottle -nose from Unionhall, Cork (see 
Irish Naturalist, 1915, p. 108) was then re-examined and it likewise proved 
to belong to the same species. Its length was 20 feet, and it was probably 
a female. 
Cuvier's Whale seems difficult to distinguish externally from the Bottle - 
nosed Whale. It coloration is very variable and the only definite character 
which separates it from its near relations is the projection of the lower jaw 
beyond the upper. The characteristic teeth in the lower jaw do not seem 
to be visible either in the young or in females, as they do not then cut 
the gums. But when a whale is noticed to have two strong teeth at the 
end of the lower jaw and when the forehead is not swollen as in the Bottle - 
nose, it may be suspected to belong to Cuvier's Whale. 
National Museum, Dublin. 
R. F. SCHARFF. 
