APPENDICES.
73
MALES.
FEMALES.
South Georgia.
Finmark (Oocks),
British Isla+ (Haldann and J. E. Hamilton).
Newfoundland (Trus).
Number.
Date of Capture.
Length in Feet.
Number.
Date of Capture.
Length in Feat.
Malee :-
ft.
Average length of all...
(20) 89.46
it. (27) 88
ft.
(18) 44.8
(10) 87.5
Minimum
25
21
181
January 5
39-75
80
189
5
48.5
Average length of the sexually mature
(18) 44.18
(16) 44
11
906
7
42
(nearly)
(10) 48.8
(8) 89-6
82
"
210
7
84
Smallest of series regarded as sexually
>1
mature
88
89
211
7
46
1
Maximum
217
49.5
49.5
55
41 58
97
46-9
222
8
89-25
298
B
52
Females :-
988
9
40
Average length of all... Minimum
(87) 48-18
(18) 42
(4) 48.5
299
9
86-5
+
27.5
29
89
249
10
85
251
12
45
Average length of the sexually mature Smallest of sexually mature series
(25) 46-60
(7) 47
(2) 45
42
45
17
Maximum
52
52
260
12
48
"
276
14
88
11
290
15
45
Total catch
100
100
27
295
16
27.5
297
16
41
Males, percentage
Females, percentage
B5 65
69 circa
91
20 823
(4) 41.5
94 (2) 46
45.5
46.5
"
100
100
72 eirca
71.5
28.5
対
1
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Zoological CHARACTERS.
Size. The lengths recorded in the preceding list may be summarized as follows:-
Average length of all (57) specimens of both sexes ...
Average length of all (20)
Males.
41.88 ft.
39.46
Of these, 7 (Nos. 5, 49, 109, 179, 194, 225, and 290), or 35 per cent., were less than 37 ft. long and are regarded as sexually immature; their lengths range from 25 to 36-7 The remaining 13 (Nos. 7, 17, 27, 31, 53, 57, 62, 70, 133,
162, 182, 212, and 226), or 65 per cent. were sexually mature, with an average length of
Length of smallest male (No. 7) regarded as sexually
mature
Length of largest male (No. 53)
Average length of all (37)
Females.
>>
44.13
11
38
"
49.5
"
43.18
*
Of these, 12 (Nos. 9, 28, 52, 181, 210, 222, 238, 239, 249, 276, 295, and 297), or 32.5 per cent., were sexually
27.5 to 41 immature their lengths range from
The remaining 25 (Nos. 3, 12, 13, 14, 48, 54, 59, 69, 94, 97, 106, 126, 136, 146, 151, 152, 153, 189, 206, 211, 217, 223, 251, 260, and 288), or 67.5 per cent., were sexually mature, with an average length of
Length of the smallest sexually mature females (Nos. 94
and 206)
Length of largest female (No. 223)
46.66
42
+
52
In the following table these lengths are compared with those of the humpbacks of the North Atlantic. The figures given for the northern humpbacks have been compiled from the data published by Mr. Cocks respecting the Finmark fishery, Mr. Haldane and Mr. J. E. Hamilton respecting the British, and True respecting the Newfoundland "fisheries."
It is necessary to keep two things in mind when comparing the lengths given in this table. Firstly, the measurements were not made by the observers in precisely similar ways. Thus, True's measurements are from the tip of the snout to the notch of the caudal flukes, so that, were they straight lengths, they would be about 4 per cent. too short as compared with Major Barrett-Hamilton's measurements; True, however, measured along the dorsal curvature, and, as is clear from a com- parison of the reduced values of the body measurements (other than total length) discussed later, the short measurement when curved does not differ very materially in value from the longer but straight measurement taken by Major Barrett- Hamilton. Haldane's measurements are more likely to be too long than too short; they were probably taken (in the Norwegian fashion) from the tip of the mandible, and, in some cases at all events, they may have followed the curves as well. Secondly, and this is perhaps of greater importance, there are great differences in the apparent constitution of the humpback herds in each of the four districts dealt with in the table. This matter is discussed below under migration, but it can be sufficiently indicated for the moment by stating that at South Georgia temales were nearly twice as numerous as males, while the converse appears to be true of each of the north- ern localities; further, in each of the northern districts, although the proportional numbers of each sex are substantially similar, the classes of individuals represent- ing each sex appear to differ. The humpbacks of the Finmark coast, so far as length is concerned, differ from those of South Georgia only in the presence of one or two bulls of exceptional size; in British waters the bulls, if Haldane's measure- ments are to be trusted, are still larger, and, in any case, the cows are distinctly shorter than those of South Georgia and Finmark. On the Newfoundland coast the cows are about equal in length to those of British waters; the bulls, on the other hand, are all very small, their average length being as much below the South Georgian average as the British average is above the latter. But average length is, of course, within limits, the measure of average age, and, therefore, from these facts it would appear that in some localities, as off the coast of Newfoundland, the "schools" during part of the year consist chiefly of immature animals, while in others, as in British waters, at certain times, "schools" of old males are accompanied by schools of young females. Looking at the figures broadly there appears to he no real difference in length between the northern and the southern humpbacks; the discrepancies seen in the table are very likely only the expressions of purely local and seasonal differences in the composition of the migrating herds.
Scammon gives the following extreme lengths of humpbacks caught in the Pacific (1) Behring Sea, male, 49 ft. 7 in.; (2) Upper California, females, 48 ft., 48 ft., and 52 ft. These lengths agree closely with those of the humpbacks of the North and South Atlantic.
As usual in Balanopterida the females attain a larger size than do the males. and this despite the large males of the Finmark and British coasts. Goodall (Zoologist, June, 1913) gives the length of a female captured at Durban, South
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