4 i2 SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



the Pliocene. It is true that many extinct birds, as, for 

 example, the Gast omit hides and Stereornitkes, have been 

 referred to it, but in no case does it appear probable that 

 we have to do with either actual ancestors or even offshoots 

 of the ancestral Struthious stock. So far, therefore, as palae- 

 ontology is concerned we have no means as yet of deter- 

 mining the relations of the Ratitse either with one another 

 or with other birds, and it is on such studies of the com- 

 parative anatomy of the various groups, as that given by 

 Professor Parker in the case of the skull, that we must rely 

 for information on this point. 



Numerous papers have appeared lately dealing with the 

 vexed question of the date of extinction of the Moas, and 

 the points of view from which the problem has been attacked 

 are very numerous. On the whole the evidence brought 

 forward seems in favour of the view, so ably advocated by 

 Dr. H. O. Forbes and others, that these birds have died out 

 comparatively recently, and that their extinction is mainly due 

 to the persecution they suffered from the Maoris, who hunted 

 them down for food, and probably also destroyed their 

 eggs. One of the reasons for believing that they survived 

 till quite lately is the occurrence of portions of their bodies 

 with dried flesh and feathers still adhering, several additional 

 instances of which have been brought to light during the 

 last year or so. Hamilton (29) has given a very interesting 

 account of the various finds of Moa feathers, and more par- 

 ticularly of one which he himself investigated. In this case 

 a large quantity of feathers, probably belonging to a species 

 of Megalapteryx, were found in a cavern near the head of 

 the River Waikaia, where a leg of the same bird with the 

 flesh and skin still adherent had previously been discovered. 



Some important discoveries of remains of extinct birds 

 other than the Moas have been recently made in the New 

 Zealand region. In a fissure in the limestone at Castle 

 Rocks, Southland, Hamilton found an immense quantity of 

 the bones of birds which appear to have fallen into the 

 opening as into a pit-fall ; though this can hardly have been 

 the case with the large extinct eagles, Harpagornis, remains 

 of both species of which occur. The remainder are nearly 



