Hectror.—New Zealand Cetaceans. 157 
Harbour in 1869 appears to have been of this species from the character of 
the ear bone, which unfortunately was the only part preserved of the animal, 
which measured 34 feet in length. 
The Humpback whales are well known to whalers, but are seldom 
molested. According to Bennett they roam about the ocean in small herds, 
seldom at any great distance from land. They are to be recognized by their 
having a short robust form, broad flat-topped head, a low broad dorsal fin 
or lump behind the middle of the body, very long pectoral fins, and the skin 
of the throat and chest deeply plaited with longitudinal folds. 
The baleen is short, broad, and triangular, but much longer than the 
breadth at the base, edged with bristles that are thick and ridged near the tip. 
(Gray.) 
There are in the Museum three ear bones (Pl. VI., figs. 3a. and b.) which 
I refer to this species, one of them being from the skull of the individual 
referred to as having been caught in Wellington Harbour. 
PHYSALUS AUSTRALIS. 
Southern Finner, or Razorback. 
P. australis, Gray, l.c. 161. P. antarcticus, Gray, le. 164. 
The only reason suggested by Dr. Gray for distinguishing the second of 
the above species is that a quantity of Finner’s baleen has been imported from 
New Zealand that is yellowish-white, the baleen of the Northern Finner or 
Great Rorqual (Physalus antiquorum) being slate grey, but the colour of the 
baleen of his Physalus australis is not mentioned so that the above distinction 
requires to be verified. The Finners are the longest of the whale species, and 
are distinctly referred to by some authors as occurring in the New Zealand 
seas. They are, however, rarely caught, as their great size and activity render 
them formidable antagonists, while the quantity of oil they give is small and 
their baleen has no commercial value. Like the Humpbacks they have the 
throat and belly longitudinally plaited, but differ in having a high falcate 
dorsal fin and pectorals of moderate length. The bones of the neck are not 
This whale is not represented as yet in the Colonial Museum. 
CATODON MACROCEPHALUS. 
Sperm Whale. 
C. macrocephalus, Lacép, Gray, l.c. 202. 
The Spermaceti Whale is not uncommon in the north latitudes of New 
Zealand, eastwards to the Chatham Islands, and occasionally as far south even 
as Stewart Island. According to Dieffenbach, they often fall a prey to the 
