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able to five or six species of Dinornis, Palapteryx, and Notornis; and there are eight tarso-metatarsals with the articular surface for a very strong hind toe, and of a conformation more nearly resembling those of the Dodo than of the Dinornis and Palapteryx, but shorter and thicker in proportion, and appertaining to the same bird as the tibia and femora described in my Memoir of 1843, under the name of Dinornis otidiformis.

"The proximal articulation of this remarkable form of tarso-metatarsal exactly fits the distal end of the tibia figured, (vol. iii. pl. xxvi. fig. 5,) and also that of a corresponding fractured tibia in Mr. Mantell's collection; which also contains the proximal end of another tibia, a fibula, an entire femur, and distal ends of two other femora, of the same species.

"The large surface for the hind toe, the strong calcaneal process forming a complete bony canal for the flexor tendons at the back part of the proximal end of the tarso-metatarsal, the perforation above the interspace between the outer and middle metatarsals for the tendon of the adductor muscle of the fourth toe, and the more posterior position of the condyle for the inner toe, all concur to indicate the generic distinction of the bird to which it belonged, from either Dinornis or Palapteryx; and I propose to distinguish the new genus by the name of Aptornis; and the present species A. otidiformis."

All the specimens above described are deposited in TableCase 16; I have since received other bones belonging to the same remarkable generic type. The annexed figures of one of the metatarsals in my collection, though on a small scale, will serve to impress the peculiar characters of this bone on the observer's memory.

The length from the intercondyloid prominence to the end of the middle trochlea is four inches; the transverse diameter of the metatarsal articulation is 18 inches (Lign. 30. 2). The great relative width of this bone, the strength of the proximal and distal ends, the greatly produced calcaneal process, the large and deep excavation for articulation with

'Zool. Trans. Vol. iii. p. 347.

the hind toe, (Lign. 30. 1,) are characters that remarkably distinguish it from the metatarsals of any other genus that have been found in the bone-beds of New Zealand.

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LIGN. 30.-TARSO-METATARSAL BONE OF APTORNIS OTIDIFORMIS; FROM THE BONE DEPOSIT OF WAINGONGORO, NEW ZEALAND.

(nat. size.)

1. Back view, showing the calcaneal process, and articulating depression for the hind toe.

2. Front view; exhibiting the intercondyloid prominence, a.

The length of the femur is 64 inches; of the tibia 81 inches. The size of the original bird equalled that of the Great Bustard, (Otis tarda.)'

There are in the collection a series of vertebræ, and portions of the pelvis, as for example the coalesced pubis and ischium, which are probably referable to this bird; but neither the sternum nor any portion of the cranium has been recognised.

FOSSIL BONES OF NOTORNIS-(N. Mantelli).-Table-Case 16. Lign. 31.-In this case are the cranium and mandibles, the sternum, humerus, femur, tibia, and tarso-metatarsals of a bird of the Rail family, collected by Mr. Walter Mantell in 1847,

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A fine pair of living Bustards (now very rare in England) may be seen in the Zoological Society's Gardens, Regent's Park.

with the remains of the Dinornis, &c., from the menaccanite sand at Waingongoro, which a recent discovery has unexpectedly invested with peculiar interest and importance.

The fossils in question furnished the data on which Professor Owen established the genus Notornis (Southern Bird).1 The cranium (Lign. 31) is 4 inches long, and 1 inch wide, and is remarkable for its quadrate form; the front, back,

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LIGN. 31.-CRANIUM AND MANDIBLES OF NOTORNIS MANTELLI: FROM THE BONE BED OF WAINGONGORO. (nat. size.)

and sides being nearly equal in breadth. The extent of the temporal fossæ are relatively greater than in any other known bird.

The mandibles are sharp, like those of the raven, but more compressed laterally, and closely resemble in shape and structure those of the Purple Coot, or Sultana (Porphyrio), except in size. The general form of the skull approaches nearest that of the Brachypteryx, or short-winged Rail of New Zealand.2

The sternum (figured in "Zool. Trans.," Pl. IV. fig. 5 and 6) is remarkably narrow, and its keel is less prominent, even

1 These specimens are figured and described in "Zool. Trans." vol. iii. Pl. LVI.; vol. iv. Pl. IV. fig. 20.

2 Brachypteryx.-" Besides a species of true Porphyrio (P. melanotus) in New Zealand, there exists in that island a peculiar and highly interesting form of the Rallidæ, in which the wings, although not so rudimentary as in the Apteryx, are nevertheless so contracted in their development, as to be useless for the purpose of flight. This bird is the type of the genus Brachypteryx-a genus as characteristic of New Zealand as is the Apteryx itself.-PROF. OWEN in "Zool. Trans." vol. iii. p. 370.

The anatomical characters of the skull of Notornis are given in detail in "Zool. Trans." vol. iii. p. 367.

than in the Brachypteryx. There are no styliform appendages, and the median portion of the bone contracts into an obtuse pointed extremity. The coracoid grooves are very shallow; the costal border has depressions for five sternal ribs. The general form and proportions of this bone are indicative of a bird of the same natural family, but with wings less developed than in Brachypteryx.

From the osteological characters above stated, it may be inferred that the Notornis was a large modified form of the same natural family of the Gralla as the Porphyrio and Brachypteryx; and from the configuration of the sternum, it must have been, like the latter peculiar bird of New Zealand, without the powers of flight.

DISCOVERY OF A LIVE NOTORNIS.—(See Frontispiece.)—The soundness of the physiological inferences relating to the structure and habits of the presumed extinct genus of brevipennate Rails, whose bones were discovered by Mr. Walter Mantell, with those of the stupendous Moa, in the menaccanitesands of Waingongoro, has recently been confirmed by very unexpected evidence-a specimen of Notornis, captured alive in a remote and unfrequented part of the South Island of New Zealand. The following account of this discovery was laid by the Author before the Zoological Society in November, 1850.

According to the traditions of the Maoris, there formerly existed in the Islands of New Zealand, contemporaneously with the gigantic Moas, several smaller birds of various species; and a kind of Swamp-hen, or water-rail, was particularised as having been abundant, and a favourite article of food with their remote ancestors. This bird was believed to be extinct, and to have been exterminated by the wild cats and dogs, which at the present time are a great pest to the colonists, destroying the young poultry and other domestic birds, as well as the indigenous species. It was known to the North Islanders by the name of Moho, to the natives of the South by that of Takahé; but not an individual had been seen or heard of, since the arrival of the English in the country.

The Rev. Richard Taylor, who has long resided in the Islands, had never seen this bird; but in his little work, "A Leaf from the Natural History of New Zealand,” under the head of "Moho," there is the following note: "MOHO, Rail ;

colour, black; said to be a wingless bird as large as a fowl, with red beak and legs; it is nearly exterminated by the cats. its cry was Keo! keo!" The vagueness and inaccuracy of the description prove it to be derived from report, and not from actual observation. On my son's second visit to the southern part of the Middle Island (as Government Commissioner for the settlement of native claims), he fell in with some sealers, who had been pursuing their avocations along the little frequented islets and gullies of Dusky Bay, on the south-western shores, and from them obtained the skin of a recent specimen of Notornis Mantelli.

It appeared, that when frequenting the coasts in search of seals and other game, these men observed on the snow, with which the ground was then thickly covered, the foot-tracks of a large and strange bird, and after following the trail for a considerable distance, they caught sight of the object of their search, which ran with great speed, and for a long while distanced their dogs, but was at length driven up a gully in Resolution Island, and captured alive. It uttered loud screams, and fought and struggled violently: it was kept alive three or four days on board the schooner, and then killed, and the body roasted and eaten by the crew, each partaking of the dainty, which was said to be delicious. The skin, with the skull and bones of the feet and legs, was preserved, and fortunately obtained by my son while in good condition, and thus, perhaps, the last of the race of Mohos was preserved for the naturalists of Europe.

Upon comparing the head of the bird with the fossil crania and mandibles, my son was at once convinced of the specific identity of the recent and fossil specimens; and so delighted was he by the discovery of a living example of one of the supposed extinct contemporaries of the Moa, that he wrote to me and stated that the skull and beaks were alike in both, and that the abbreviated and feeble development of the bones and plumage of the wing were in perfect accordance with the indications afforded by the humerus and sternum found by him at Waingongoro, and now in the British Museum, as pointed out in the Zoological Transactions, vol. iii. To the natives of the pahs or villages my son visited on his homeward route to Wellington, the Notornis was a perfect novelty, and excited great interest. No one

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