524 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
as wholly extinct, and as illustrating the change of habitat, as man takes 
possession of what was before the dominion of,the cetacean. 
The Beluga, or White Whale (. Delphinapterus leucus) begins life as lead- 
colored, becomes mottled as it approaches maturity, and finally assumes a garb 
of the most beautiful cream-color. It “ roams the wide seas over,” has been 
found as large as fifteen to seventeen feet in length, is well supplied with 
teeth, and prefers to feast upon the larger fishes, which cannot compete with 
v its rapid and powerful swimming. 
The Gladiator Whale [Orca gladiator ) is round-headed, stout-toothed and 
heavy-jawed, as it needs to be, since, contrary to the conventions of the cetaceans , 
it is pugnacious, and directs its attacks particularly against the whalebone 
whales. It is common in the waters of the north Atlantic. 
The Black Gladiator, or Straight-finned Killer ( Orca rectipinna :), is the 
corresponding species found in the Pacific ocean. 
The Caing Whale, or Black Globe-headed Whale ( Globiocephalus 
melas ), is gregarious, and a common sight to travellers upon the broad Atlantic. 
The Short-finned Whale, or Southern Black-fish ( Globiocephalus brachy- 
pterus), is toothed, black in color, and found from the latitude of New York 
southward. 
The Pigmy Sperm Whale (. Kogia floweri ) belongs to India and Aus¬ 
tralia, and, though a pigmy in comparison with the mammoth forms of the 
sperm whale, yet reaches the not inconsiderable length of eighteen or twenty feet. 
The Rorqual of the Atlantic ( Agelaphus gibbosus ), or Scrag WLale, 
appeals to our patriotism, as it was well known to the early New England 
fishermen, and led to the possibilities of those ancestral traditions which are now 
so highly prized by some. Its back is supplied with rough, bunch-like pro¬ 
tuberances, which have given it its second name. Its baleen is white. 
The Humpbacked Whale consists of some seven species, of which we 
mention the North Sea Humpback [Megaptera longimanus\ and the Pacific 
Humpback [Megaptera versabilis). 
The California Gray Whale [Rachianectes glaucus ) is an oil whale, 
noticeable for its periodical migrations. It passes part of the year in the 
Arctic regions, but prefers to spend the early winter and spring on the Califor¬ 
nia coast. It was .selected for mention in our discussion of the fishes. 
The Atlantic Fin-back (. Balcenoptera rostrata) is small in size, as is also 
the Pacific Fin-back ( Balcenoptera davidsoni). 
One of the swiftest of the cetaceans is the Pacific Razor-back [Balce¬ 
noptera velifer ) and it carries the immense length of upwards of sixty feet. 
New Zealand plays So important a part in our modern life that mention 
should be made of the New Zealand Right Whale ( Balcena australiensis) , and 
the Biscayan Whale [Balcena cisarctica) deserves notice for the adventures to 
which, in times past, it gave rise. 
The Cape Whale (. Balcena antipodarum) furnishes sport and brings 
profit to the South Africans. 
The Pigmy Right Whale ( Neobalcena marginata ) is, like our other pigmy 
whale, only small when compared with the other members of its family, as it 
is frequently fifteen feet in length. Its whalebone is its point of superiority, 
and excels that of all other whales. It dwells in the waters about Australia and 
New Zealand. 
