342 MR. F. DAY ON SCORPwENA SCROFA. [Apr. 5, 



tried to catch him again, I have (unfortunately for me) heen unsuc- 

 cessful. S. COWPER.' " 



Mr. J. H. Leech, F.Z.S., exhibited specimens of some new 

 Butterflies from Japan and Corea, which he was intending to describe 

 at a future meeting of tlie Society, and gave some account of his 

 expedition to those countries in quest of Lepidoptera. 



A communication was read from Prof. J. H. Scott and Prof. T. 

 J. Parker, containing a description of a Whale of the genus Zip/iius, 

 of which a specimen had been recently obtained near Dunedin, New 

 Zealand. 



This paper will be printed entire in the Society's ' Transactions.' 



The following papers were read : — • 



1. On the Occurrence of Scorpana scrofa off the South. 

 Coast of England. By Francis Day, C.I.E., F.Z.S. 



[Received Marcli 26, 1887.] 



On March 21st I was fortunatae enough to secure in Cheltenham 

 a recently stuffed specimen of Scorpama scrofa, 11*2 inches in 

 length, which had been obtained under the following circumstances. 

 It liad been captured by a trawler at Brixham at the beginning 

 of the month, and forwarded next day to Mr. Woore, fishmonger 

 in this town, as being a fish quite new to the local fishermen. 

 Owing to my being away and to obviate its being spoiled, Mr. Woore 

 had it stuffed, and in this condition I first saw it. So far as I know, 

 tliis fish has not previously been obtained along our shores, and I 

 think its occurrence ought to be recorded. 



B. vii. D. 11/f^. P. 19. V. i. A. f C. 13. L. r. 46. 



The specimen agrees so thoroughly with the description in Cuvier 

 and Valenciennes's ' Histoire Natuielle des Poissons,' vol. iv. p. 288, 

 that further remarks upon this subject appear to be unnecessary. 

 Although in the ' Catalogue of the Fishes of the British Museum ' this 

 species is described as having " the head entirely scaleless and 

 smooth," and no mention of spines exists in the description, still in 

 the definition of the genus it is remarked that " the head is armed 

 with spines." Valenciennes refers to " les nombreuses epines de 

 sa tete," and Moreau, in his ' Poissons de la France,' very accurately 

 describes the fish. 



Hab. The Mediterranean and along the Atlantic shores of France 

 as high as the Gironde and Rochelle. Moreau observed that he had 

 never seen it from the coast of La Vendee. Common also at 

 Madeira. It does not appear remarkable that a straggler should 

 occur along our southern shores, but its occurrence during a very 

 cold March would hardly have been anticipated. 



