CETACEA OF THE XEW ZEALAND SEAS, 565 



features from specimens brought into the Whangamumu whaling- 

 station. 



Humpback Whales regularly migrate, spending the southern 

 summer south of New Zealand and the winter in subtropical 

 ■seas. They appear at the Kermadec Islands in the latter part of 

 August, but are most common in the group during October and 

 November. They have their calves with them at this time. They 

 appear off the Bay of Islands in the latter part of )September, the 

 main body passing southwards during October and November. 

 By the middle of December no more are to be seen here. From 

 i;his time until April they appear to be absent from New Zealand 

 waters. They are hunted in Cook Strait from May to August, 

 and appear off the Bay of Islands between the middle of April 

 and the end of August, but are not seen at the Kermadec Islands 

 until later in the year, as noted above. (Lillie ; Oliver.) 



Kermadec Islands. — Frequent the group in large numbers with 

 their calves from middle of August to end of November. 



Chatham Islands. — Baleen in tlie Canterbury Museum. 



Ojff Cape Brett. — Regularly shot by harpoon-gun from small 

 steam-vessel and brought into the Whangamumu whaling-station. 

 The yearly catch varies between 40 and 70. The exterior and 

 anatomy have been well described by Lillie. 



Cook Strait. — {a) Porirua Harbour. Skull in British Museum. 

 Described by Hector (1875). (6) Tory Channel. Two scapulas 

 in Dominion Museum, Wellington. Described by Gray (1874). 

 '(c) Common, May to August. Motor-launches are engaged in 

 whaling at Picton, catching 35 to 40 Humpbacks annually. 



Kaikoura. — {a) Skull in Dominion Museum, Wellington. 

 Described by Hector (1875). {b) A whaling-station is established 

 here. Nine whales were brought in in each of the years 1918 

 and 1919. 



Akaroa Rarboior. — Female caught 6th May, 1875. Calf also 

 killed. Described by von Haast (skeleton then in Canterbury 

 Museum). Vertebrae: C, 7, D. 13, L. 10, Ca. 21 = 51. Cervicals 

 free. Sternum scarcely longer than broad. (Haast.) There is 

 a skeleton in the British Museum, presumably this one. 



Otago. — Right tympanic and periotic bone in British Museum. 

 Described by Gray as the type of Megaptera itovce zealandice. 



Physeter. 



Physeter Linne, 1758, Syst. Nat. ed. 10, p. 76; type, P. macro- 

 cephalus Linne. 



Physeter macrocephalus. 



Physeter macrocephalus Linne, 1758, Syst. Nat. ed. 10, p. 76 

 (European seas); Hector, 1878, Trans. N.Z. Inst. vol. x. p. 337; 

 Waite, 1909, Subant, Is. N.Z. p. 551. Catodon Tnacrocephalus 

 (L.), Hector, 1873, Trans. N.Z. Inst. vol. v. p. 157. Physeter 

 catodon (L.), Lillie, 1915, 'Terra Nova' Exped., Zool. vol. i. 

 p. 118. 



39* 



