280 — Transactions.—Loology. 
to all accounts accessible to me it has always been observed after its emi- 
gration to its winter quarters in the more southern regions to be clothed in 
its more sober white and ash-coloured winter dress, instead of the rich’ 
rufous and black tints our specimen possesses so conspicuously. 
Might this not suggest to us that when the usual breeding time of the 
straggling flock came round, although in the middle of our winter, the 
season did not prevent the change of colour, together with the pairing in the 
flock ! 
At first sight the idea might not appear unreasonable that this bird 
occurs also in the antarctic zone, hybernating in the more temperate regions 
of the southern hemisphere, but, in that case, the specimen under review 
would not have been found in full breeding or summer dress, 
Having drawn the attention of ornithologists to this interesting stranger, 
I have no doubt that, as was the case with Strepsilas interpres (the Turnstone), 
more light will be thrown upon its occurrence in this part of the world now 
that this has been proved beyond a doubt. 
Art. XVIIL— Om the Occurrence of the Spinous Shark (Echinorhinus 
spinosus) in New Zealand Waters. By T. JEFFERY Parker, B.Sc. 
[Read before the Otago Institute, 10th July, 1883.] 
Tus species is stated by Günther* to be confined to the Mediterranean and 
Atlantic, extending from the coast of England to the Cape of Good Hope. 
I believe the present specimen to be the first which has been recorded 
beyond the usual range. It was caught off Dunedin by fishermen in the 
employment of the Deep Sea Fishing Company during the present month 
uly). 
The fish, which was quite new to the captors, was cut up for bait, only 
the mutilated remains being brought to Dunedin. Fortunately the teeth 
were preserved, and the tail was hardly at all injured, so that there was no 
difficulty in identifying the species, 
Echinorhinus belongs to the family Spinacida. I extract the following 
generic and specific characters from the « Catalogue of Fishes ” :— 
“* Genus Echinorhinus, 
“Two very small dorsal fins, without spine, the first opposite to the 
ventrals; no anal fin. Skin with scattered large round tubercles. Mouth 
erescent-shaped, a labial fold round the angle of the month. Nostrils mid- 
way between the mouth and the end of the snout. Teeth equal in both 
o abe c fitu: 
* “Catalogue of Fishes,” vol, viii., p. 428, 
