r water, it drowns. It has no gills,
like those of the fish, to take air from the water; it is a mammal, a
creature that must breathe the free air just as other mammals. Nature is
full of surprises. And here she surprises us with a mammal most
marvellously fitted to live a fish-like life.

The Whale dives to great depths in search of food, and stays under water
for a long time. But it is forced to rise again, and breathe at the
surface. To do this, it need not put its head and mouth out of water,
for its nostril is at the top of the head.

As the Whale forces used-up air from its nostril--or "blow-hole," as it
is called--it mixes with water; this causes a jet or spout of water to
rise some distance into the air. The blow-hole is closed by a stopper or
valve, opening to let the air in or out, but closing to shut out the
water.

Some of the Whale family are enormous, and some are small. A large Sperm
Whale may grow to be ninety feet long, and its weight would be nearly
two hundred tons! This huge creature would look like a deep barge in the
water.

These Sperm Whales love to swim in herds, or schools. As many as three
hundred have been seen in one school, old "bulls" and "cows," and their
young ones swimming together far out at sea. It has been noticed that
they all spout, or breathe, at the same time, and then dive to great
depths. The old ones seem to know that their babies cannot stay under
water as long as a full-grown Whale can, and they all rise at the same
time. These youngsters may be nearly thirty feet long; but they gambol
like so many kittens, twisting and turning over and over, and throwing
themselves into the air. Most Whales are happy creatures, enjoying their
roving life in the free ocean.

You can well imagine that a Whale as big as a barge needs huge dinners.
We should not be far wrong if we guessed that he would need about a ton
of food every day. Where is he to get all that food? It is said that he
feeds mostly on the Cuttle-fish, that giant cousin of the Octopus, who
haunts the dim caverns of the deep. The Sperm is of enormous strength,
and is as fierce as he is strong. Otherwise he would not dare to face
the awful, clinging arms of the Cuttle, that ogre of the deep sea.

The Sperm Whale has a great, blunt head, a huge mouth, and a throat
large enough to swallow a man. His clumsy-looking head contains oil, so
does the deep layer of blubber with which his body is covered.

For the sake of this o