HuTTON. — On the Moas of Nczv Zealand. 95 



commonest skulls, &c., will usually belong to the commonest 

 legs. It is by these means that I have drawn up the tables 

 of measurements of the species. I do not expect that I have 

 escaped error altogether, but I hope that I have arranged my 

 conclusions in such a way that any errors may be readily 

 detected by future investigators. I regret much that I have 

 not been able to make as close an examination of the crania 

 as I could wish, for, with the exception of a few skulls from 

 Shag Point belonging to the genus Euryapteryx, which have 

 been kindly lent me by Mr. Aug. Hamilton, I have only had 

 opportunity for hurried observations in the different museums 

 I have visited. 



The first announcement of the former existence of large 

 struthious birds in New Zealand was by Mr. J. S. Polack, 

 who, in his book " New Zealand," published in 1838, stated 

 that he had found their bones near the East Cape of the North 

 Island. Subsequently — 1839 to 1843 — several collections 

 were made by Mr. W. Colenso, the Eev. W. Cotton, and the 

 Eev. W. Williams in that district and at Poverty Bay. In 

 1844 the Eev. E. Taylor found them in numbers at Waingo- 

 ngoro, near Wanganui, and a large collection was made from 

 here by the Hon. W. Mantell in 1847,* and by Sir G. Grey in 

 1850. In 1852 Dr. A. S. Thomson found many bones in the 

 limestone caves in the upper Waipa country, i and others have 

 been found about Tongariro and Lake Taupo, as well as near 

 Wellington. In 1875 Mr. J. Thorne made a valuable dis- 

 covery of bones at Pataua, near Whangarei, and others have 

 been since found in that neighbourhood, as well as near Auck- 

 land, by Mr. T. F. Cheeseman. In 1887 a rich locality was 

 found at Te Ante, near Napier, and was collected from first by 

 Mr. Aug. Hamilton, and afterwards by Mr. James Park, for 

 the Geological Survey. 



The first discovery of bones in the South Island was made 

 by Dr. Mackellar and Mr. Percy Earl at Waikouaiti, in Otago, 

 in 1846 ; a locality which was explored three years later by 

 the Hon. W. Mantell, :[: who again, in 1852, made a good col- 

 lection from an old Maori cooking-place at Awamoa, near 

 Oamaru. In 1861 the limestone caves in Collingwood County 

 were explored by Sir J. von Haast and Mr. Maliug, and fronr 

 this time onwards numerous discoveries were made m Canter- 

 bury and Otago. In 1866 Sir J. von Haast began his clas- 

 sical explorations at Glenmark ; and the almost equally rich 

 deposit at Hamilton, in Central Otago, w^as explored by me in 



* Quar. Jour. Geol. Soc, vol. iv., p. 238 ; and " Petrifactions and their 



t Edin. New Pliilos. Jour., 1S5G, vol. Ivi, p. 2G8. 



X Quar. Jour. Geol. Soc, vol. vi., pp. 327 and 334 ; and " Petrifactions 

 and their Teachings," p. 98, 



