the under jaw are rudimentary and concealed by the gum. The dorsal fin is small and the flippers short and rounded.
Hyperoodon rostratus (Chemnitz). Common Beaked Whale, or Bottle-head. Attains a length of from 20 to 25 feet. The beak is depressed and pointed, with a single blow-hole, crescentic in shape, concave in front. The maxillary crests are narrow, widely separated, and not higher than the occipital portion of the skull. The general colour is black above, shaded to grey beneath. This whale is a native of the North Atlantic, and in autumn frequently comes into British waters, specimens being captured nearly every year on some parts of our coast.
Hyperoodon latifrons, Gray. Broad-fronted Beaked Whale.—Attains a length of 25 to 30 feet. Differs from the last-named chiefly in the shape of the skull; the bony crests on the maxillaries are much thickened and flattened above so as almost to touch one another, and rise above the occipital portion of the skull. Nothing is yet known of the external appearance of this whale, which has been described only from its remains, portions of which have beeu found in Orkney, the Firth of Forth, and Morecambe Bay, Lancashire.
Genus Ziphius, Cuvier.
Characterized by the peculiar conformation of the skull. The rostrum is triangular in shape, at the base of which is a deep hollow into which the nares open. There are two teeth in front of the lower jaw, conical in shape, and of moderate size.
Ziphius cavirostris, Cuvier. Cuvier's Whale.—Although apparently not uncommon in the Mediterranean, is only known to have occurred once in British waters, a specimen having been taken in Hatnna Voe, Shetland, in 1870, as recorded by Professor Turner, of Edinburgh.[1] It attains a length of about .... feet, and has .... vertebræ and .... pairs of ribs. Its colour is said to be steelgray, with irregular white streaks.
Genus Mesoplodon, Gervais.
Distinguished from the last-named genus by the form of the skull, which has no hollow at the base of the rostrum (the latter beiug very slender), the nares opening directly on the surface. The teeth, two in number, which in Ziphius are situated in front of the lower jaw, are in this genus placed one on each side of the
- ↑ Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinb., 1872.
