246 ; ; Transactions.— Zoology. 
for the same mode of attack. Dr. Hector* has given an account of the 
capture of an adult male of Berardius arnuxii in the entrance of Wellington 
Harbour, on January 12th, 1877, from which it appears that ‘the teeth 
did not penetrate the gums, nor could their position be discovered till deep 
incisions were made.” This leads me to conclude that the male of this 
species cannot use the teeth in the same manner as Ziphius nove-zealandia 
does. Thus this species of Ziphioid Whale, as far as our observations in 
New Zealand go, stands apart in this strange habit of life by which, as far 
as we know at present, both young and aged females are made sufferers, the 
form and peculiar position of the teeth in front of the protruding lower jaw, 
making these savage attacks possible. It will be of some interest to obtain 
a male of the same species, in order to ascertain if it is also covered with 
similar scars. The outlines of the right side of the animal were drawn from 
careful measurements, and the oval and seamed scars conscientiously copied 
from nature by Mr. T. S. Cousins. 
Finally, I should like to make a few observations on the nomenclature, 
and the changes proposed. 
There is no doubt that the generic name Epiodon has to give way to 
Ziphius, but I think it rather premature to follow Dr, Hector's example, and 
io merge our New Zealand species into the European Ziphius cavirostris 
of Cuvier, till we possess some more detailed accounts of the form, colour, 
and anatomical structure of the different species of Ziphius described under 
various names from other countries. For instance, we know already that 
the Epiodon australe, of Burmeister, had a light ash-colour (ceniza clara), 
that it was darker on the back, lighter on the belly, and moreover, that its 
forehead was not swollen. Epiodon desmarestii, according to Risso, is steel 
grey, with numerous irregular white streaks, beneath white, head not 
swollen, ending in a long nose. Consequently, in both these well-described 
species, there is considerable difference in their appearance when compared 
with the New Zealand Ziphius, a difference which certainly is of some 
specific value, and ought not to be set aside without good cause being shown 
to the contrary. 
In plate VIII., b is the vent, c the pudendum, and d the fold. 
Amr. XXIL— On the Occurrence of the Red-capped Dotterel (Hiaticula rufi- 
capilla) in New Zealand. By T. W. Kx, Assistant in the Colonial 
useum. 
[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 11th October, 1879.] 
I mave much pleasure in laying before the Society a fine specimen of the 
Red-capped Dotterel, which was obtained in December last on the beach 
* Trans, N.Z, Inst., Vol. X., p. 338, 
