282 Zoological Society. 



left side. The other vertebrae are without any process. The cervical 

 vertebrae are all free. 



The upper part of the spinous process of the second vertebra is 

 very large and convex, covering this part of the next vertebra. 



I may here remark that Professor Eschricht informed me that he 

 could find no difference between the Megapteron of the North Sea 

 and the Cape specimen in the Paris Museum. I may also observe 

 that Cuvier (Oss. Foss. v. 381) described the Cape specimen as 

 having the second and third cervical vertebrae united by the upper 

 part of their body, which is not the case with our Northern specimen, 

 and that Cuvier's figures of the lateral process of the Cape speci- 

 men are very different from the Northern one here described. 



2. On a new species of Apteryx. By John Gould, Esq., 

 F.R.S. ETC 



We have abundant evidence that at some former period New Zea- 

 land, and probably the Polynesian Islands, have been inhabited by a 

 remarkable group of Birds, of which the Dinornis, so ably described 

 by Professor Owen, formed a part, and of which the genus Apteryx 

 is the only form at present known to exist ; this form, so different 

 from all others, has been, and will ever be, regarded with great in- 

 terest, as the sole remnant of a race of which every other genus is 

 believed to be extinct. Hitherto a single species only of this genus 

 has been recorded ; I have therefore no ordinary degree of pleasure 

 in introducing to the notice of this Meeting a second, and if possible 

 a still more extraordinary one than that previously described, and as I 

 reported to the meeting held on the 13th of April, I have intelligence 

 of the existence of a third and much larger species than either of them. 



The bird I am now about to describe has just arrived from New 

 Zealand by way of Sydney, but unaccompanied by any information 

 as to the locality in which it was procured, or any particulars of its 

 habits and economy. 



It appears to be fully adult, and is about the same size as the 

 Apteryx Australis, from which it is rendered conspicuously different 

 by the irregular transverse barring of the entire plumage, which, 

 with its extreme density and hair-like appearance, more closely 

 resembles the covering of a mammal than that of a bird ; it also 

 differs in having a shorter, more slender, and more curved bill, and 

 in the structure of the feathers, which are much broader through- 

 out, especially at the tip, and of a loose, decomposed, and hair-like 

 texture. I propose to characterize this new species under the name 

 of Apteryx Owenii, feeling assured that it can only be considered as a 

 just compliment to Professor Owen, who has so ably investigated 

 the group to which I believe it pertains. 



Apteryx Owenii. Ap. corpus super ius f us co et fulvo transversim, 

 radiatum ; plumis singulis, ad basim argenteo-fuscis, in medio satu- 

 ratius fuscis, deinde fascia semilunari transversa 4 fulvd, cut macula 

 succedit informis nigra, ad apicem fulvis . Corpus inferius supe- 

 riore pallidius, pluma enim quceque inferioris corporis tribus radiis 

 fulvis, superioris tantum duobus ornatur ; fulvus quoque color infe- 

 riore longius quam superior e corpore in apicibus plwnarum extendit. 



