298 Zoological Society. 



metatarsal bone, which was long and strong. Dr. Grant pointed out 

 that it possessed the articulating surfaces for four toes, three directed 

 forwards and one backwards, as in the foot of the Dodo preserved in 

 the British Museum, to which it was also proportioned in magnitude 

 and form." 



I beg now to read a paragraph from Mr. Strickland's book. At 

 page 52 we find: *'The bones sent by Mr. Telfair in 1833 to the 

 Zoological Society have met with some unfortunate fate. Three or 

 four years ago, Mr. Fraser, the late Curator of that Society, made, at 

 my request, a diligent search for these specimens, but all his endea- 

 vours to find them were fruitless : he found the identical box sent 

 by Mr. Telfair, but, alas ! the bones of the Solitaire, apterous as it 

 was, had flown away, and the only bones that remained belonged to 

 tortoises.'* 



In the month of July last an opportunity was afforded me by the 

 Secretary of renewing this search, and I had the good fortune to 

 find what I believe to be all the specimens sent to the Society by 

 Mr. Telfair. 



Upon my informing Mr. Mitchell of my success, that gentleman, 

 knowing the trouble and interest I had taken to recover them, 

 granted me permission to examine, compare, and describe them, and 

 to bring the subject before the Society. 



In the first place, we are led to believe (and I think without the 

 slightest doubt) that these bones came originally from the island of 

 Rodriguez. There cannot be any doubt, also, that Rodriguez and 

 the neighbouring islands were at one period inhabited by several spe- 

 cies of large birds. Whether any of the same species of these birds 

 inhabited different islands, or whether each island was inhabited by 

 distinct species, is a question to which I beg most particularly to call 

 your attention : the most recent publication by Mr. Strickland and 

 Dr. Melville would lead us to believe that the true Dodo (Didus in- 

 eptus) was solely confined to the island of Mauritius, and another 

 species, known as the Solitaire, was said to be its representative on the 

 island of Rodriguez. If this be true, I should have the pleasure of 

 introducing to your notice the bones of at least two new species of 

 birds from that island : I do not however myself feel justified in so 

 doing, but believe some of the bones sent here by Mr. Telfair belong 

 to the true Dodo (Didus ineptus). There are also in the collection 

 (I think without doubt) bones of two other species, one of these 

 of much larger size than the Dodo, the other considerably smaller. 

 The bones in question having all the usual and well-known charac- 

 teristics of those of adult birds, we cannot therefore suppose the dif- 

 ferences which they present to be such as might arise from age ; and 

 on the other hand, you will perceive that the proportions are too dis- 

 similar to allow of our regarding them as having belonged to different 

 sexes of the same species. There often exists great difference of size 

 in the bones of the opposite sex, but I have never noticed any very 

 evident difference of proportion. These are to me satisfactory reasons 

 for considering them specifically distinct. But to return to the ques- 

 tion, — Was the Dodo found on the island of Rodriguez ? Sir Thomas 



