23 
the grooves which cross the shell, and are slightly darker in shade 
than the ridges. It attains a length of five inches, and is found 
on the grass banks in sheltered places. 
SEMI-CASSIS PYRUM (Plate V.).—Fig. 5, the helmet 
shell, from the Latin cassis, a helmet, is familiar to residents on 
the seaside, both in Australia and New Zealand, as it is a hand- 
some shell, sometimes upwards of four inches in length. The 
colour varies a good deal, but is usually pinkish-white or pale 
chestnut, the wavy spots arranged in bands round the shell being 
usually dark brown. Sometimes the shell is nearly white. After 
heavy gales numbers are washed up on ocean beaches from the 
sandy banks on which they live. 
SEMI-CASSIS LABIATA (Plate V.).—Fig. 6 (late Cassis 
achatina) is a smaller and narrower shell than the former, and 
somewhat rare. The dark markings are splashed, and not ar- 
ranged in bands, thereby giving the shell a mottled appearance. 
The interior is brown or purplish. 
LOTORIUM CORNUTUM (Plate V.).—Fig. 7 is a bright 
reddish-yellow shell, covered with a very long epidermis, which 
makes the shell appear more than double its real size. I have 
found a dozen or more of them on the ocean beaches in the Bay of 
Plenty. They were all dead shells, about one and a-half inches 
long, and the epidermis was wanting. The uneven, blunt-pointed 
lumps, with which this shell is covered, make it easily recognised. 
I have not heard of its being found anywhere in New Zealand, 
except in the Bay of Plenty, but it is fairly common in Sydney. 
CALLIOSTOMA TIGRIS (Plate VI.).—Fig. 1 (late Zizy- 
phinus tigris) is a whitish shell, striped or dotted in rows with red. 
Although sometimes over two inches across, the shell is thin and 
light. Its glistening interior, and shapely lines, make it one of 
our most handsome shells. These shells are sometimes found at low 
water mark, under and amongst rocks in harbours, as well as 
amongst kelp in the surf. When once a rock, or small patch of 
rocks, frequented by them is found, subsequent visits in the spring 
or early summer will nearly always be successful. It is common 
to both Islands. During the hot weather of summer, they ap- 
parently move to below low-water mark, and remain there in 
the deeper water until the winter. I obtained a considerable 
number of excellent specimens from a strip of rocks near the 
