40 



BAL^NID^:. 



high ; the upper edge thin, and inflexed the greater part of its 

 length, erect in front ; the lower edge inflexed in front, the rest of 



Fig. 1. 



Figs. 1 & 2. Side view and top view of the skull of Neohalc&na niarginataj 

 from Dr. Hector's figures. 



the edge being simple. The baleen elongate, slender, several times 

 as long as broad, with a fringe of a single series of fine fibres ; ena- 

 melled surface smooth and polished, thick. 



1. Neohalsena marginata. B.M. 



BalsBna marginata, Gray, Cat. Seals c^- JVJiales Brit. Mm. p. 90 ; Hec- 

 tor, Proc. 4* Trans, of the New-Zealand Institute, 1869, t. 2 b. f. 1-4; 

 Ann. 8^ Mag. Nat. Jlist. 1870, v. p. 221, and vi. p. 155, figs. 1 & 2. 



Inhab. New Zealand ; Island of Kawau (Sir G. Grey). Mus. 

 Wellington. 



In width and general form the beak of the skull is somewhat 

 like the beak of some of the Finner Whales ; but it does not at all 

 justify Mr. Knox's idea that Balcmia marginata is a Finner. But 

 this difference of skull makes us more anxious to have the descrip- 



