Hector. — 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 welt 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 (PI. 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, I.e. 161. P. antarcticus, Gray, I.e. 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 w^hale 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 

 united. 



This whale is not represented as yet in the Colonial Museum. 



CATODON MACROCBPHALUS. 

 Sperm Whale. 



C. macrocephalus, Lacep, Gray, I.e. 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 



