The beaked whales belonging to the family ZiphiidÆ are, with the exception of the bottle-nosed whales of the genus HyperoÖdon, among the rarest of cetaceans. Of the three genera Mesoplodon, Ziphius, and Berardius, so far as I have been able to ascertain from published records, specimens representing about one hundred individuals are known, and somewhat more than one-half of these belong to the first-named genus. Berardius is the rarest genus, only about fourteen specimens having been collected thus far. The U. S. National Museum contains specimens representing some twenty-five individuals of the three genera, or about one-fourth of the material at present available. Among these are six specimens of the genus Berardius, or nearly half of all that have been recorded thus far. The most important addition to the knowledge of these whales made during the last quarter century was the discovery of representatives of the three genera Mesoplodon, Ziphius, and Berardius, at Bering Island, in the North Pacific, by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, whereby the known range of the family was very greatly extended. Two of the forms were described by Doctor Stejneger in 1883, and the third by myself from a skull which he collected. About one-half of the material which the Museum possesses consists of that collected by Doctor Stejneger in Bering Island and that from the same locality presented by Mr. Nicholas Grebnitzki, Russian governor of the Commander Islands. About six years ago the National Museum received information and specimens from correspondents showing that the range of the three genera found at Bering Island extends to the eastern North Pacific, one genus (Ziphius) having been observed at Kiska Harbor, Alaska, another (Mesoplodon) at Yaquina Bay, Oregon, and the third (Berardius) at St. George Island, Pribilof Group, Alaska, and near Cape Mendocino, California. On the east and west coasts of the United States the only occurrences of beaked whales known to me are as follows: EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES. - Mesoplodon bidens:
- Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. 1867. Skull in the Museum of Comparative ZoÖlogy, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- Mesoplodon europÆus:
- Atlantic City, New Jersey. March 28, 1889. Young male. Skeleton, cast, photographs, and viscera in the National Museum.
- North Long Branch, New Jersey. July 22, 1905. Adult female. Skull in the Museum of Comparative ZoÖlogy, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- Mesoplodon densirostris?:
- Annisquam, Massachusetts. August, 1898. Young female. Skeleton in the Museum of the Boston Society of Natural History.
- Ziphius cavirostris:
- Charleston, South Carolina. 1865 (?). Young female. Skeleton in the National Museum. (Type of Z. semijunctus.)
- Barnegat City, New Jersey. October 3, 1883. Adult female. Skeleton and cast in the National Museum.
- St. Simon Island, Georgia. 1893. Male (?). Known from a photograph; only a few bones preserved.
- Newport, Rhode Island. October, 1901. Adult male. Skeleton and photograph in the National Museum.
- HyperoÖdon ampullatus:
- New York Bay, New York. 1822. Female (?). Not known to have been preserved.
- North Dennis, Massachusetts. January, 1869. Male. Skeleton in the Museum of Comparative ZoÖlogy, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- Newport, Rhode Island. 1869. Female. Skull in Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.
WEST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES. - Mesoplodon stejnegeri:
- Yaquina Bay, near Newport, Oregon. February 15 (?), 1904. Adult. Skull in the National Museum.
- Ziphius cavirostris:
- Kiska Harbor, Alaska. September, 1904. Known only from photographs.
- Berardius bairdii:
- St. George Island, Pribilof Group, Alaska. June, 1903. Adult female. Skeleton in the National Museum.
- St. George Island, Pribilof Group, Alaska. June, 1903. Young male. Skeleton in the National Museum.
- Centerville Beach, near Ferndale, California. October, 1904. Adult male. Skeleton in the National Museum.
- Alaska or California (?). Skull formerly in museum of the Alaska Commercial Company, San Francisco.
- Trinidad, California. January 30, 1905. Not preserved; perhaps not this genus.
- St. George Island, Pribilof Group, Alaska. August 21, 1909. Female. Probably not preserved. Reported by Maj. Ezra W. Clark.
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