II.—ZOOLOGY. 
Art. XXI. 
i Whale. By Prof. Junius von inar PhD, FRB, 
Director of the Canterbury Museum. 
Plate VIII. 
[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 26th November, 1879.) 
Iw a former volume of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,* I 
offered a description of the skeleton of this interesting Southern Ziphioid 
Whale. I then stated on the authority of the late Mr. F. Fuller, taxider- 
mist of the Canterbury Museum, who went to secure the skeleton of that 
specimen, stranded in Lyttelton Harbour, some details about the character- 
istic form and colour of the skin of the animal in question. When my 
informant 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. From the observations I am about to offer to 
the Society, on two more specimens stranded since then on our sea-beach, it 
will be seen that some of the statements were far from being correct. 
fact, the animal was so much cut about that its lower part was taken 
for the upper, and vice versá, and consequently no dorsal fin could be 
found where it was looked for. The first of the specimens under review was 
stranded on Sunday, the 17th of November, 1878, near New Brighton. 
There were numerous visitors at the time who observed another whale 
(according to other lookers-on, two whales) in the offing, by which the 
animal was driven into the surf, where soon it became helpless. Gradually 
it was drifted upon the low sandy beach, where it died only after a long 
struggle. Having received prompt information, I arrived early next morn- 
ing on the scene, and found the animal quite intact, so that I could not only 
take the necessary measurements, but also have a careful sketch prepared, 
which, as the sequel will show, is of importance, in offering us some curious 
information as to the habits of this species of Ziphioids. 
Colour: Head, neck, and anterior portion of the back, as far as the 
dorsal fin, white ; the rest of the body black; a white narrow line running 
along the edge of the dorsal fin, which is otherwise black. The line of 
division between the two colours is everywhere well marked, except upon 
* Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. IX., p. 430. 
24 
