HuTTON.— 07^ the Moas of Neio Zealand. 97 



shcaft. When there are two shafts to a quill one is usually, 

 but not always, shorter and more slender than the other! 

 The largest are not more than Tin. in length. It would 

 appear probable, from specimens of skin which have been 

 found, that the feathers of the neck were two-shafted, while 

 those on the legs were one-shafted. In colour they 'differ. 

 Those from the Clutha are brown at the base, shading up- 

 wards into black, while the top is white. '= Those from 

 Queenstown are either reddish-brown with a central longitu- 

 dmal stripe of dark-brown near the apex, or they are pale- 

 brown margined with darker. One was pure- white, f 

 Evidently the Clutha bird was speckled with white on a 

 black gi-ound, while the Queenstown birds were streaked 

 longitudmally with two shades of brown. A bone of S. casua- 

 nnus was found in the cave with the latter feathers, but there 

 is no proof that the feathers and the bone belonged to the 

 same bird. Professor Owen has shown that the legs of M. 

 didinus were feathered down to the toes, the feathers on the 

 metatarsi being from lin. to 2iin. in length, and without an 

 accessory plume. The basal part of each feather is light- 

 grey, deepenmg towards the apex into reddish-brown. + There 

 were also feathers on the specimen of D. jJotens found at 

 Tiger IIill.§ The feathers are furnished with barbules up to 

 the very tip, except in a few cases ; but barbicels are always 

 absent. The shafts are slender and flexible, and do not pro- 

 ject beyond the barbs. 



Not only were the moas at one time very numerous, but 

 there were many different kinds, ranging in height from 2ift 

 up to lift, or 12ft.— that is, 3ft. or 4ft. higher than the largest 

 ostrich ; but the smaller birds were far more common than 

 the large ones. They all agreed in being remarkably robust 

 m build, with strong legs, and rather flat heads with small 

 eyes but well-developed olfactory organs. The whole bird, 

 from the head downwards, was covered with soft fluffy 

 leathers. There were no long plumes on the head or on the 

 tail. Dr. von Hochstetter, in his book " New Zealand," has 

 given, on page 176, an admirable restoration of one of the 

 species of Dinornis. 



_ The brain was very small in proportion to the size of the 

 spinal cord. II The beak differed a good deal in the different 

 kinds, being sharp and pointed in some, obtuse and rounded 



t Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. viii., p. 101, and vol. xviii., p. 83. 

 \ Trans. Zool. Soc, vol. ii., p. 257. 

 § Dallas, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1865, p. 265. 

 11 Ext. Birds of N.Z., v. 326, pl. xci., figs. 11-18 

 7 



