150 



DR. SIDNEY F. HARMER OX GET ACE A 



specimens which were examined by this observer. On the left 

 side of the head, the upper jaw and the lower lip are dark in 

 colour, like the dorsal surface generally. On the right side, the 

 anterior end of the upper jaw, the greater part of the lower jaw 

 and a number of the anterior baleen-blades are white; these 

 blades, as S^rs points out, being much like those of the Lesser 

 Rorqual. 



In the specimen from John o' Groats the baleen -plates were 

 described as being blue on one side, and white for a distance of 

 two and a half feet from the front end of the beak on the other 

 side, the remaining plates of the same side being blue. It is 

 fortunate that two photographs of this individual were supplied, 

 taken from the two sides. In these, the upper part of the head and 

 the lower jaw T appear dark on the left side, while no difference 

 in the colour of the baleen is apparent anywhere in the series. 

 On the right side, the front part of the upper jaw, the lower lip 

 and the baleen-plates of the anterior end of the series are white ; 

 and these characters make the reference of the specimen to 

 B. physalus practically certain. 



In the individual from the Scilly Islands the evidence is less 

 complete, though the baleen in the fore part of the mouth was 

 described as having been white, " getting gradually darker till it 

 becomes black.'' In the photographs received of this individual (see 

 p. 13 of my Report on the specimens stranded during 1917), the 

 left side is not visible. On the right side, however, the lower 

 lip at least is white, and apparently part of the upper region of 

 the head. The baleen is not visible. The blade received is a 

 small one, probably from near one end of the series. It agrees 

 so closely with that of the individual from John o' Groats, in the 

 fineness and straight character of the hairs, that I feel little 

 doubt that it belongs to the same species ; while it may further 

 be remarked that its coloration agrees better with that of the 

 baleen in the Common Rorqual than with that in Rudolphi's 

 Rorqual. This specimen, too, thus seems to have been an 

 immature B. physalus. 



The evidence with regard to the specimen from Derrynane was 

 very inadequate ; but I am inclined to refer this one also to 

 B. j^ysakts on the evidence of a single incomplete baleen-blade, 

 in which the hairs are not curly, but straight and somewhat 

 coarser than in the other two specimens, in correlation with its 

 greater size. In my original record of this specimen I remarked, 

 on the assumption that it was a Rudolphi's Rorqual, that the 

 length (60 ft.) recorded was probably too great; but if the 

 determination then made was incorrect there is no reason to 

 suppose that the size of the animal was overestimated. 



If the foregoing corrections are justifiable, the only record of 

 B. borealis, in these observations, is the specimen from Crosskirk, 

 Sept. 1914. According to Oollett (1912, p. 597), this species, 

 which feeds principally on pelagic Crustacea, only reaches the 

 Norwegian coast during the summer. It becomes from 45 to 50 



