Hamilton. ^-On Avian Remains in Southland. 89 



Castle Kocks Station, and Mr. Mitchell, of Manipori, have 

 co-operated with me and rendered me every assistance in the 

 exploration of the caves, and that I am deeply indebted to 

 them for their help. 



Mr. Mitchell having found some bones of Aptomis defossor, 

 Owen,* in some caves amongst these rocks some years ago, I 

 was induced to visit the place, and, after some little search, 

 found that there were two places which yielded small bones of 

 birds other than moa. One place was at the bottom of a 

 deep water-worn cave, far down under the rocks, the bottom 

 of which was a stiff, yellow, wet clay ; and the other, a more 

 promising-looking place, nearly on the top of a hill, was a 

 naturally-formed trap or pitfall for apterous birds. The 

 descent into this pit was perhaps 25ft. or 30ft. Small trees 

 and bushes were growing close to the mouth, and a long vine 

 or stem of the Rubns served as a rope by which to descend into 

 the pit or chasm. The greater part of the floor was covered 

 with a stiff, greasy-looking brown earth, somewhat irregular 

 on the surface, and in many parts hidden by the dead leaves, 

 dry twigs, and sticks that had fallen or blown into it. I was 

 surprised to see sticking out from the debris, under the 

 sloping surface of tberock on the lower side, a number of bird- 

 bones, and still more surprised and delighted to find that, by 

 scraping up the ground with a pick, bones could be obtained in 

 great numbers. I must now 7 try to describe more particularly 

 and definitely the character of the chasm or fissure. 



The sides w r ere formed by two enormous blocks of the 

 limestone imbedded on their edges, with the planes of strati- 

 fication or fracture nearly parallel, but both tilted at a con- 

 siderable angle. The upper end of the chasm was closed by 

 irregular blocks of limestone, and also the lower end, but not 

 to the same level. The chasm is only accessible from this 

 lower end. The length was about 50ft., and the average 

 breadth 8ft. The rock on the right of the entrance sloped at 

 a somewhat greater angle than the one on the left, so that the 

 width increased a little towards the bottom. 



A reference to the plan and sections on Plate VII. will 

 give an idea of the place. 



The general result of the digging in this pit was that the 

 bones were only found along the underface of the rock on 

 the right hand, and chiefly in the light friable mould formed 

 by the decay of the leaves and vegetable debris ; and this, 

 mixed with the limestone dust and efflorescence, proved to 

 have preserved even the most delicate bones in perfection. 

 On the left-hand side the soil was stiffer, and full of bird- 

 guano and clay ; very few bones were found in it. A reference 



* See Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xx., p. 175. 



