Nqw Zealand Institute. 563 



70 feet in length, obtained in Port Underwood j and also one of tlie Fin Back, 

 procured for the Museum by Mr. Charles Traill in Stewart Island. The 

 comparison of these skeletons, when they arrive at the Museum, will help to 

 settle some important points in the natural history of this species. The skull 

 of a calf of Neobalcena m(wginataj and several other interesting Cetaceans have 

 also been lent by the Auckland Museum, for the purpose of being described. 

 Among the Foreign Mammalia the most important additions have been a fine 

 collection of eighty specimens of the Rodents of North America, presented by 

 the Smithsonian Institute, and twenty-four specimens of Eeptiles from South 

 Australia, sent by Mr. Waterhouse. 



Birds, — The chief addition to the New Zealand birds has been the 

 acquisition of a large number of skins of huias, kiwis, kakapos, and other 

 specimens that, from their rarity, are useful for exchange. The only species 

 added to the type collection is a specimen of Frocellaria lessonij obtained from 

 the Chatham Islands. 



Of foreign birds, the Museum has received from Mr. R. L. Holmes a fine 

 series of those indigenous to the Fiji Islands; also a collection, from the 

 Northern Territory of Australia, from the South Australian Museum ; and a 

 selection of North American species from the Smithsonian Institute. 



A mounted collection of the New Zealand Raptores was sent by Dr. 

 BuUer from London, including a specimen of the great eagle, which is stated 

 to have been shot off the east coast of Wellington. 



Reptilia, — In this section the chief additions are the snakes of Fiji and 

 South Australia, but the collections in this class are still very incomplete. 



Fishes, — Thirteen fishes have been added to the fauna of New Zealand 

 during the past year, the most interesting being those obtained in deep water 

 off the coast by the "Challenger Expedition." A fine specimen of the 

 Ceratodus, the fresh- water ganoid fish of Queensland, has also been presented 

 to the Museum by Professor Wyville Thomson. Descriptions of some of 

 these species will be found in the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. 



Invertehrata. — Besides many additions to the New Zealand collection in 

 this class, an interesting series of Crustacea and Annelida, from Spifczbergen 

 and the coast of Scandinavia, has been presented by Professor Loven. 

 Valuable additions to our Australian and Tasmanian shells have also been 

 received from Dr. Cox, Mr. Gritton, and Mr. Gordon Saxby. 



The Critical List of the New Zealand MoUusca by Dr. Von Martens, and 

 also the Descriptive Catalogue of the Land Shells by Dr. Cox, have been 

 published. Attention has also to be directed to the valuable lists of all the 

 New Zealand Insects described up to 1870, prepared by Captain Hutton and 

 Mr. R. W. Fereday, which have been published in the Transactions of the 

 New Zealand Institute, Vol. VI., which also contains the Rev. 0. P. Cam- 



