strength and swiftness, and the beautifully-polished glossy black skin
of the back contrasting with the equally pure and well-defined white
of the lower parts has a very striking effect; over the eye there is
a well-defined white spot. It is a very handsome species, but there is
something in its appearance which seems to indicate its cruel nature.
Thirteen or fourteen strong, slightly curved teeth are found on either
side of both jaws; the flippers are broad and oval-shaped, the dorsal
fin high and falcate, particularly in the male.
[Illustration: Fig. 24. _Pseudorca crassidens_ (Owen).]
As my object is mainly that of assisting in the identification of
casual visitants to our shores, rather than of giving anything like a
history of the known British species of Cetacea, it may be desirable
to mention here a very remarkable form, which, although it has never
been known to occur in the flesh on our shores, was first made known
to science from an imperfect skeleton found in a semi-fossil condition
beneath the peat in a Lincolnshire Fen. To this Dolphin, “come back,
as it were, from the dead,” and which forms a connecting link between
the genus _Orca_ and the genera _Grampus_ and _Globicephalus_ (and
which Owen had named _Phocœna crassidens_), Reinhardt gives the name of
_Pseudorca crassidens_. On the 24th November, 1861, a large shoal of
these dolphins made their appearance in the Bay of Kiel. The sailors
succeeded in separating about thirty of them from the remainder, but
all, with one exception, escaped. This was a female 16 feet long,
which, after being exhibited at Kiel and other places, was bought for
the Museum of the University of Kiel. In the summer of 1862, three
other individuals, presumably from the same shoal, were thrown ashore
on the north-western coast of Zealand. Of the general appearance of
this creature the accompanying figure (24), copied, by kind permission,
from Professor Flower’s translation of Reinhardt’s paper,[42] published
by the Ray Society, will give an idea; the figure is from a photograph
of the Kiel specimen, and is not in the original paper. The length is
from 16 to 19 feet; of the colour no account is given, but, judging
from the woodcut of the Kiel specimen, it appears to be uniformly
shiny black. The number of teeth differs in individuals, but in this
one it was from 9 to 10 on either side of the lower jaw, and 8 to 10
in the upper. From the observations made by Reinhardt, he suggests
a possibility that there may be “a difference in the sizes of the
different sexes, and whether the females are not larger, but at the
same time, perhaps, provided with a head comparatively smaller than
that of the males.” It is very suggestive of how little we know of the
inhabitants of the sea, that at least one vast shoal of a species known
only from its sub-fossil remains should be roaming the seas only to be
accidentally discovered when its members became entangled in shallows
from which probably many never lived to extricate themselves.
RISSO’S GRAMPUS.
RISSO’S DOLPHIN (_Grampus griseus_, G. Cuvier; _Grampus cuvieri_, Gray,
Ann. Nat. Hist., 1846) is a rare and little-known species, which has
been met with four times on the south coast of England, and about
eight times in France. In the ‘Transactions’ of the Zoological Society,
for 1871, Professor Flower gives an account of an adult female which
was taken in a mackerel-net, near the Eddystone Lighthouse, on 28th
February, 1870, and which eventually was sent up to London. About a
month later, a second specimen was received in London, the precise
locality of which was not known, but it was probably from somewhere in
the Channel. This was also a female, but a very young animal, and as
the adult female first taken had recently given birth to a young one,
it is quite possible that it may have belonged to her. On the 26th
July, a male of the same species was captured alive at Sidlesham, near
Chichester, and sent to the Brighton Aquarium, where it lived for a few
hours only.
[Illustration: Fig. 25. RISSO’S DOLPHIN (_Grampus griseus_, G. Cuv.)]
Risso’s Dolphin varies very considerably in its colouration. The
Sidlesham specimen was bluish-black above, and dirty white beneath; in
the adult female described by Professor Flower (from whose illustration
our figure is, with his permission, copied), “the head and the whole
of the body anterior to the dorsal fin was of a lightish grey,
variegated with patches of both darker and whiter hue.... Behind the
anterior edge of the dorsal fin the general colour of the surface,
including the dorsal and caudal fins, was nearly black, though with
a large light patch on the upper part of the side directly above the
pudendal orifice. The middle of the belly as far back as the pudendal
orifice, was greyish white.”[43] The most remarkable characteristic,
however, was the presence, scattered over the body, of irregular light
streaks and spots; these markings extended from the head to within
about two feet from the tail; and presented a most singular appearance.
In the young one the upper parts and sides of the body were almost
black, and the lower parts nearly white, the junction between the two
colours being very abrupt and sharp. “On each side of the body were
six vertical whitish stripes nearly symmetrically arranged, and almost
equidistant, being about six inches apart. They did not extend quite
to the middle line of the body above, and were lost below in the light
colouring of the abdomen.”[44] The length of the Sidlesham male was 8
feet, that of the adult female 10 ft. 6 in.; in the former there were
present four teeth on each side the lower jaw, in the latter three
only on each side, and in the immature specimen there were present
seven teeth, four on the right, and three on the left side; the teeth
are always placed in the front part of the mandible, and in every
specimen examined there has been an entire absence of teeth in the
upper jaw. In general appearance, Risso’s Dolphin, more particularly
the dark-coloured specimens, is said very much to resemble the next
species (_Globicephalus melas_). Of its habits and distribution nothing
positive is known, but from its visiting France and England in the
spring or summer, M. Fischer concludes that this species “is migratory,
visiting the shores of Europe in the summer, and passing in winter
either to the south towards the coast of Africa, or to the west towards
the American Continent.”[45]
THE PILOT WHALE.
[Illustration: Fig. 26. PILOT WHALE (_Globicephalus melas_, Trail).]
The PILOT WHALE (_Globicephalus melas_, Trail; _Delphinus melas_,
Trail; _D. globiceps_, Cuv.; _D. deductor_, Scoresby), known in
Shetland as the Ca’ing or Driving Whale, is a frequent, although a very
uncertain, visitor in British waters. It is met with, according to
Lilljeborg, in the North Sea and northern part of the Atlantic Ocean,
occasionally as far north as Greenland; off the Orkney and Shetland
Islands, and on the North-west coast of Norway, it frequently makes
its appearance; and it has been found on the British coast as far
south as Cornwall. In Bell’s ‘British Quadrupeds’ it is said that it
also appears to enter the Mediterranean. This species is pre-eminently
gregarious, and generally occurs in large herds, often numbering
several hundreds. So strong is their habit of association that they
follow the leading Whale like a flock of sheep, a habit of which the
Orkney and Shetland Islanders are fully aware, and avail themselves to
the full. When a herd appears in one of the bays, boats immediately
put off, and if possible, get to seaward of them, then gradually
approaching, with shouts and splashes, they urge the whole herd
shoreward, and are generally successful in driving a large number of
Whales into shallow water; but should the leader break through the line
of boats, the probability is that no efforts the boats’ crews can make
will prevent all its companions following. Bell gives many instances of
large numbers of these animals being taken, the last of which, quoted
from the ‘Zoologist’ for 1846, is, perhaps, the most extraordinary. It
is there stated, “on newspaper authority,” that 2,080 were taken in
Faroe in the previous year within six weeks, and that 1,540 were killed
_within two hours_ in Quendall Bay, Shetland, on the 22nd September,
1845.
As it too frequently happens that the unfortunate cetaceans which fall
into the hands of the fishermen are simply hacked to pieces, and die
only from exhaustion arising from loss of blood, it is worthy of remark
that, according to Herr Collett, of Christiania, in Norway they are
readily killed by a rifle shot, in the throat, or under the breast.
This species (fig. 26) is remarkable for its peculiarly rounded
head,--hence its generic name; the flippers are long and pointed, the
dorsal fin long and low; the teeth are about an inch in length, seldom
all present in the adults, and the normal number, according to Bell,
about twenty-four on either side each jaw; ten to twelve is, however,
the more usual number present. The length of the adult is about
nineteen or twenty feet, its colour glossy black, with the exception of
a white stripe along the belly, which has a heart-shaped termination
under the throat. Its favourite food is said to be cuttlefish. The
figure is copied, with permission, from the ‘Transactions’ of the
Zoological Society, vol. viii., pl. 30.
PORPOISE.
The COMMON PORPOISE (_Phocœna communis_, F. Cuv.; _Delphinus phocœna_,
Linn.) is the best known of the Cetacea inhabiting the North Sea, being
met with in abundance all round the British Isles, seldom occurring
far from land, and often ascending large rivers for a considerable
distance: it has been seen in the Thames as high as London Bridge.
Nothing can be more interesting than to watch a shoal of these animals
at sea, sometimes tumbling and gambolling under the bows of the vessel
which is passing rapidly through the water, with as much ease as if
she were motionless, or chasing each other playfully round and round
the ship as she lies becalmed, their white bellies glistening in the
clear sea, and frequently, apparently out of pure mad delight, leaping
completely out of the water, returning to their native element with a
most determined header. But it is not till seen in the glass-sided tank
of the aquarium that the beauty, and even poetry of motion of these
animals can be fully appreciated; swimming along in a series of gentle
curves, they just bring the blow-hole to the surface, breathe without
stopping, and continue the curve, till in due course they reach the
surface again. This is repeated for the whole length of their spacious
tank, or is varied by unexpected eccentricities, all indescribably
graceful. Under these favourable circumstances for observation it is
also clearly seen that the horizontal tail is the propeller which gives
the motion; the alternate upward and downward pressure of this organ
against the water evidently producing the graceful mode of progression
which is so difficult to describe, but so easily understood when
witnessed. The flippers are not used as propellers. When the animal
is moving forwards they are laid back, against the body; but when it
wishes to stop, they are stretched out at right angles to it, so as
to offer a resistance to the water, and so arrest the onward motion of
the animal. All this, although perfectly understood in theory before,
strikes the beholder as a new and beautiful sight when first viewed in
practice, from a stand-point, on a level with the animal itself, and as
it were in its own element.
The food of the Porpoise consists of fish, and it follows the shoals
of herrings, &c., amongst which it commits great depredations; it has
a taste for salmon, and is sometimes taken in the salmon-nets. The
period of gestation is said to be six months, and it brings forth one
young one at a birth; its colour is black on the back, shaded off
to silver-grey on the belly, the whole skin beautifully smooth and
polished. The teeth number about twenty-five on each side of either
jaw, and are spatulate, with a contracted neck, unlike the usually
conical teeth of the _Delphinidæ_. The length is four or five feet.
The flesh of the Porpoise seems formerly to have been esteemed as an
article of food, and is mentioned several times in the L’Estrange
Household Book (1519 to 1578) and other similar records; it is said by
one who has eaten it to be “excellent meat, dark in colour, and large
in fibre, but of excellent flavour, very tender, and full of gravy.”
THE COMMON DOLPHIN.
The COMMON DOLPHIN (_Delphinus delphis_, Linn.), fig. 27, is not
unfrequently met with in the seas surrounding the southern portion
of the British Isles; but from the northern division of the kingdom,
although it, doubtless, occasionally visits Scottish waters, there is
no reliable record of its occurrence. This species, probably, often
passes unrecognized. It may, however, be at once distinguished from
the Porpoise by its attenuated beak, the head of the Porpoise being
obtuse, and the beak altogether absent. It is a native of the temperate
seas, and becomes scarcer as the north is approached. Van Beneden was
not able to record it as frequenting the Belgian coast, but Lilljeborg
says it is occasionally obtained on the coasts of Scandinavia, and Herr
Collett has hardly any doubt that it occurs on the Norwegian coast
as far north as Finmarken, and a large “school,” seen by Malmgren
in April, 1861, in West-fjord, between the Loffoden Islands and the
mainland, was referred by him, without hesitation, to this species.
In Greenland it is said to be met with, but Professor Flower thinks
it doubtful whether some species of an allied genus may not have been
mistaken for it.
[Illustration: Fig. 27. COMMON DOLPHIN (_Delphinus delphis_, Linn.).]
This is the true Dolphin of the Ancients, of which Professor Bell,
in his ‘British Quadrupeds,’ says: “the mythological and poetical
associations which belong to the Dolphin, its reputed attachment to
mankind, its benevolent aid in cases of shipwreck, its dedication to
the gods, and many other attributes expressive of the high estimation
in which it was held in olden times, afford a striking example of
how the unrestrained imagination of the ancients could raise the most
gorgeous structures of poetry and religion upon the most slender
basis.... It requires some stretch of the imagination to identify
the round-headed creature which is represented in ancient coins
and statues, with the straight sharp-beaked animal,” which is here
figured. It is sad to destroy at one fell swoop all the romance which
once surrounded this species; but Dr. Gray tells us that “the dying
Dolphin’s changing hues” are not observed in a cetacean at all, but in
a fish of the genus _Coryphæna_, which, although normally black, is
stated by Mr. Couch (as quoted by Mr. Yarrell) to have changed to a
fine blue whilst he was making a drawing of it. The food of the Dolphin
consists of fish, cuttlefish, and crustaceans, and on the Cornish
coast it makes its appearance in considerable numbers, according to
Mr. Couch, in the month of September during the pilchard season. It is
very social in its habits, and even more sportive in the water than its
relative, the Porpoise. The illustration is copied from Reinhardt’s
figure.
Professor Flower thus describes a specimen taken in March, 1879,
Mevagessey: “Instead of being simply black above and white below, as
usually described, the sides were shaded, mottled, and streaked with
various tints of yellow and grey, ... the under surface was of the
purest possible white; perfect symmetry was shown in the colouring and
markings on the two sides of the body.”[46] There is, probably, much
variation in the disposal of the colour; in a beautiful drawing, in my
possession, made by Mr. Gatcombe from a specimen taken at Plymouth, the
colour is so disposed as to show two graceful waving lines, crossing
each other about the centre of the animal’s body, forming a figure
somewhat like an elongated figure eight. The dental formulæ vary from
40/40 40/40 to 50/50 50/50, the numbers not always being equal, even on
the different sides of the mouth of the same individual. The length is
from 5 to 8 feet.
BOTTLE-NOSED DOLPHIN.
The BOTTLE-NOSED DOLPHIN (_Delphinus tursio_, Fab.; _Tursio truncatus_,
Gray), fig. 28, appears to be found occasionally from the Mediterranean
to the North Sea; it is by no means, however, a common species.
Professor Flower says it “is rare in the Mediterranean, though Gervais
gives several instances of its capture in the Gulf of Lyons. It
probably has a more northern range than _D. delphis_; but, as in the
case of that species, there is still much obscurity as to the exact
limits of its distribution.”[47] A specimen was seen in January, 1873,
in the fish-market at Algiers, by Mr. J. W. Clark, of Cambridge.
[Illustration: Fig. 28. BOTTLE-NOSED DOLPHIN (_Delphinus tursio_,
Fabricius.)]
Of the habits of this species very little is known: its colour is black
above, shaded to white below, and its length from 8 to 12 feet; teeth
from 21 to 25 on either side of each jaw, truncated when old. The
figure is from a drawing of a nearly adult male, taken at Holyhead, in
October, 1868, for which I am indebted to the kindness of Professor
Flower.
WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN.
The WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN (_Delphinus acutus_, J. E. Gray;
_Lagenorhynchus acutus_, Gray, Zool. Erebus and Terror), is a rare
species, which has occurred in a few instances on the British coast;
it is said, however, by Dr. A. R. Duguid, often to be seen about the
Orkney Islands, but rarely secured. Its colour is black above and white
below, between which runs a broad band of yellowish brown, about the
centre of which, and surrounded by it, is a large oblong patch of pure
white. The adult measures from 6 to 8 feet in length. A figure and
description, by Dr. Duguid, taken from one of a herd of twenty landed
at Kirkwall, on the 21st August, 1858, will be found in the ‘Ann. and
Mag. of Nat. Hist.’ (3rd series) for August, 1864, vol. xiv., p. 133.
WHITE-BEAKED DOLPHIN.
The last species on the British list, the WHITE-BEAKED DOLPHIN
(_Delphinus albirostris_, J. E. Gray; _Lagenorhynchus albirostris_, J.
E. Gray, Zool. Erebus and Terror), is also of rare occurrence: it is a
native of the North Atlantic, has occurred at the Faroe Islands, and
on the coasts of Norway and Sweden, and Denmark, also at Ostend, but
little is known of its habits. A Dolphin of this species was killed at
Hartlepool in 1834, but not recognized at the time: the skull is now
in the Cambridge Museum. This species was, I believe, first described
as British by Mr. Brightwell, under the name of _D. tursio_, from a
specimen taken off Yarmouth, in 1846. His paper, with a figure from a
drawing made by Miss Brightwell, will be found in the ‘Ann. and Mag.
of Nat. Hist.,’ first series, January, 1846, vol. xvii, p. 21. Another
specimen was shot by Mr. H. M. Upcher, near Cromer, and will be found
recorded by Dr. Gray in the same Magazine, for April, 1866, vol. xvii.,
p. 312. A fourth, an adult male, 9 feet long, was taken at the mouth of
the Dee, in December, 1862; and a fifth on the south coast, in 1871.
[Illustration: Fig. 29. WHITE-BEAKED DOLPHIN (_Delphinus albirostris_,
J. E. Gray).]
In September, 1875, a young female was taken off Grimsby, and in March,
1876, a young male was captured off Lowestoft. The first-named of
these latter formed the subject of a communication to the Zoological
Society of London, by Dr. Cunningham, of Edinburgh, and the latter of a
subsequent notice, by Mr. J. W. Clark, of Cambridge. Both papers will
be found printed in the ‘Proceedings’ of the Zoological Society for
1876, p. 679, _et seq._, and figures of the two specimens are given on
the same plate. On the 24th August, 1879, a young female, the skull of
which is now in the Norfolk and Norwich Museum, was landed at Yarmouth,
and on the 22nd March, 1880, another young female was also landed
at the same place, the exact locality in which it was taken being
uncertain. On the 7th September, 1880, a young male, the first recorded
Scotch specimen, was taken on the east coast, near the Bell Rock, thus
realising the belief, expressed shortly before (‘Mammalia of Scotland,’
_Nat. Hist. Soc. of Glasgow_, 1880, p. 23) by Mr. Alston, that it might
be expected to occur in Scottish waters. The total length was 5 ft. 8
in.
Through the kindness of Mr. Clark, I am enabled to give a figure of
the Lowestoft specimen. Mr. Clark’s figure differs considerably from
Dr. Cunningham’s, both in outline and in the disposal of colour, being
much more slender, and showing considerably less white; both, however,
differ still more from Mr. Brightwell’s figure than they do from each
other. A good figure of the adult animal is still a desideratum, that
by Miss Brightwell being obviously incorrect. Mr. Clark’s specimen was
glossy black on the upper part, and creamy white on the under; the
upper lip white, with a black spot at the tip, and a few irregular
pale grey cloudings on its surface; the coloration exceedingly
beautiful, and such as no drawing could give an adequate idea of. The
two last-named Yarmouth examples agreed very closely in all respects
with Mr. Clark’s description. Mr. Brightwell’s specimen had the whole
upper part and sides rich purple-black, the lips, throat, and belly
cream-colour, varied by chalky-white. This specimen, an adult, measured
8 ft. 2 in. in length, Mr. Clark’s 5 ft. 5½ in., and Dr. Cunningham’s
4 ft. 2 in. Two others, also both young ones, measured respectively 4
ft. 3 in., and 5 ft. The teeth vary in number, but are about twenty-six
on either side each jaw; in one specimen, carefully examined by the
writer, they were 26/24 26/24, several of the front teeth not having
pierced the gum.
In addition to those enumerated above, others are said to have occurred
on the coast of Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and to have been seen
off the Faroe Islands. It is singular that 5 of the 10 recorded British
specimens should have been landed on the Norfolk coast.
This species concludes the short list of the twenty-two British
Cetacea, of which I have endeavoured to give a popular, but I hope, at
the same time, so far as it is at present known, a reliable account;
my principal object, as I stated in my introductory remarks, being to
induce those residing in suitable localities to take up the study of
this interesting family, and to assist in the identification of those
specimens which from time to time are cast upon our shores.
NOTE TO PAGE 77, RUDOLPHI’S RORQUAL (_Balænoptera laticeps_, J. E.
Gray).--Professor Flower, since the brief account of this animal at
p. 77 was printed, has called my attention to the undoubted priority
of Lesson’s name for this species, _Balænoptera borealis_, which was
founded upon Cuvier’s “Rorqual du Nord”; he also points out that Van
Beneden and Gervais follow Lesson in this respect, and says that in
future it is his intention to do the same. As it is most important
to establish an uniform nomenclature, I do not hesitate to follow
so distinguished an authority, and now wish to supply the omission
as far as it is possible to do so. The species will, doubtless,
henceforth be known as _Balænoptera borealis_, Lesson, Complément des
Œuvres de Buffon, Cetacés.
JARROLD AND SONS, PRINTERS, LONDON AND EXCHANGE STREETS, NORWICH.
Cloth, 6s.; or in Half Morocco, 10s. 6d.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE FAUNA OF NORFOLK,
AND MORE PARTICULARLY ON
THE DISTRICT OF THE BROADS.
BY
THE LATE REV. RICHARD LUBBOCK, M.A.,
_Rector of Eccles_.
NEW EDITION,
WITH ADDITIONS FROM UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS OF THE AUTHOR, AND NOTES BY
THOMAS SOUTHWELL, F.Z.S.,
_Hon. Sec. to the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Society; Author of
“Seals & Whales of the British Seas_;”
ALSO A MEMOIR BY
HENRY STEVENSON, F.L.S.;
AND AN APPENDIX CONTAINING NOTES ON HAWKING IN NORFOLK BY
ALFRED NEWTON, M.A., F.R.S., &c.
AND ON THE DECOYS, REPTILES, SEA FISH, LEPIDOPTERA, AND BOTANY
OF THE COUNTY.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.