466 DR. J. V. HAAST ON ZIPHIUS NOV^E-ZEALANDI.E. [June 6, 



Mr. Sclater read an extract from a letter addressed to him by 

 Mr. J. II. Gurney, F.Z.S., dated Northrepps, Norwich, May 23rd, 

 1876. Mr, Gurney stated that a pair of the variety of the Common 

 Swan, usually called the Polish Swan (Ci/ynus immntabilis of Yar- 

 rell), which had been deposited by the Society under his care for 

 the purpose of breeding, had just hatched five healthy Cygnets, which 

 did not appear to Mr. Gurney to differ materially from those of the 

 ordinary form. The general colour of the upper parts was brownish 

 grey with a slight tinge of dull pale rufous ; the head, throat, and 

 breast were white. The white colour, however, was not abruptly 

 marked off from the grey, but the boundaries of the two tints were 

 somewhat blended. 



Mr. Sclater remarked that the usual notion was that in the Polish 

 Swan the Cygnets were invariably of a pure white*, and that it was for 

 the purpose of ascertaining whether this idea was correct that the pair 

 of Swans in question had been placed under Mr. Gurney's charge, at 

 the suggestion of Prof. Newton, in order that they might have a 

 better chance of breeding. The Swans had been originally received 

 of a dealer in exchange in May 1871, and had not bred in the 

 Society's Gardens, the space available for them being too limited. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. Notes on the Skeleton of Ziphius nova-zealandia. By 

 Julius von Haast, Ph.D., F.R.S., Director of the Can- 

 terbury Museum. 



[Eeceived May 5, 187G.] 

 (Plates XLV. & XLVI.) 



At the end of July 1872 the report reached me that a Whale had 

 been stranded on a reef in Lyttelton Harbour, Banks Peninsula, and 

 that the carcass had been towed to one of the small bays bv several 

 fishermen for securing the oil. 



Being myself prevented by indisposition, Mr. Fuller, the Taxi- 

 dermist of the Museum, proceeded to that locality with instructions 

 to secure the skeleton and to make the necessary observations as to 

 the dimensions, form, sex, and age of the animal. 



When he arrived where the fishermen were at work, he found that 

 the blubber had nearly all been taken off, so that he could only 

 partially obtain the required measurements. 



The animal, which on dissection proved to be an aged female, had 

 a total length of 20 feet ; and Mr. Fuller describes the body as being 

 rather thick in the middle, tapering to a slender tail without showing 

 the least trace of any dorsal fin. Colour bluish black on the upper 

 portion of the body, white beneath, the upper portion being marked 

 with numerous oval spots, 2 to 3 inches across, like the skin of a 

 Leopard. 



* See yarrell's 'British Birds,' vol. in. p. 131 (1843). 



