BRITISH MAMMALS 
on the top of the head, extending backwards a short distance behind the 
blow-hole, and on each side towards but not reaching the eye. Both 
surfaces of the pectoral fin were nearly black, very finely mottled or 
dappled with grey, and becoming darker towards the tip. 
" The neighbourhood of the axilla was of the same dappled colour. . . . 
But what gave the most remarkable and characteristic appearance to the 
animal was the presence of conspicuous, but most irregular, light streaks 
and spots scattered over the whole of the side from the front of the head 
to about two feet from the end of the tail, where they ceased, at least 
on the lateral surface. . . . The streaks or lines were of various lengths 
and running in all directions in a most fantastic manner, some parallel, 
some crossing each other, and some forming sharp angles, zigzags and 
scribble-like patterns." 
The total length of this specimen was 10 feet 6 inches. 
Risso's Grampus has a very extensive range, occurring in the 
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and occasionally in some numbers in the 
Mediterranean. It is rare in British waters. In England the first 
known example was stranded at Puckaster, Isle of Wight, in the 
spring of 1843, and a few others have been taken from time to time. 
In Scotland, six were captured at Hillswick, Shetland, in September 
1889. Two more were stranded on the Solway in 1892 and one in 
the Forth near Kincardine in October 1904. (Millais). Little seems to 
be known of the habits of this Dolphin. Judging by the remains of 
cuttlefish found in captured specimens and the curious marks and 
scratches on the skin of the animal caused by their beaks and suckers, 
it appears to feed chiefly on those creatures. 
92 
