252 Transactions, — Zoology. 



On 1 2th January I was informed by Mr. Charles Traill of the capture of 

 a small whale near his residence on the north end of Stewart Island, and that 

 he had fortunately been able to secure the complete skeleton. Mr. Traill 

 states it to be a finback, but from the description which he gives, especially 

 of the baleen, I am inclined to think that it will prove to be a specimen of 

 Neobalcena marginata, and as a considerable period may elapse before the 

 skeleton reaches the museum, I extract the following particulars from Mr. 

 Traill's letter. 



The specimen seems to be a female. Colour black, with a light stripe on 

 the belly; length, 15 feet 3 inches; breadth of tail-flukes, 3 feet 8 inches; 

 pectoral fins situated immediately behind the head, each being 1 foot 3 inches 

 long, 230 plates of baleen on each side, the largest being 18' 5 inches long by 

 1-8 inches wide at base, and 0-1 inch thick ; colour of baleen, yellowish-white 

 with a dark margin. The ribs are at least seventeen pairs, and are very 

 oblique. Most of them are nearly straight, broad, and fiat, and very small 

 towards the point of attachment, the form being suggestive of short swords or 

 paper-knives, and from their shape and slight curvature very unlike ribs. 

 The sternum is singular, bearing a striking resemblance to a scutcheon, and 

 appearing only to have had one rib attachment on each lateral border. The 

 seven cervical vertebra* were thoroughly anchylosed. 



Mr. Traill gives no other particulars respecting this interesting specimen, 

 which was captured among a large school of black-fish, many of which were 

 taken at the same time. 



Postcript, 21st December, 1874. — The skeleton of the whale above 

 referred to having arrived at the museum, I am able to add the following 

 description of this cetacean, which proves to be as I anticipated, the true 

 Neobalcena niargi?iata, Gray. It will be observed that the only material 

 difference from the information supplied by Mr. Traill is respecting the 

 number of ribs, there being only fifteen pairs while he was of opinion that 

 there had been seventeen pairs. 



The characters afforded by the complete skeleton confirm the propriety of 

 placing this cetacean in a separate family, intermediate between the true 

 whales and the finners (Gray, Suppl. Cat. Seals and Whales, p. 41). 



With the true whales (Balcenoidea) it has the following characters in 

 common : — Baleen elongate and of fine quality ; chest and belly smooth ; 

 tympanic bones rhombic ; cervical vertebrae anchylosed ; mandibular ramus 

 without a coronoid process. 



To the finners (or finbacks)* it has the following points of resemblance : 

 Body elongate and slender, the proportion of head being less than one fourth 



* Whalers often speak of right whales as finners or fin-fish, from their yielding 

 baleen or "fin," as they term it. 



