46 Transactions. — Zoology. 



only one who has already collected some data of this kind, 

 and we ought to be grateful to him.( 118 ) 



The information published by him shows that the bones of 

 Dinornis gigantcus have never been found among the remains 

 of feasts in the neighbourhood of the ancient ovens. The 

 largest of the birds seems therefore to have been extinct before 

 the arrival of man in New Zealand. Dr. Haast only once 

 found the remains of SbDinornis robustus in the kitchen-middens. 

 This latter species, somewhat smaller than the former, had 

 probably almost disappeared when the hunters killed one of its 

 last representatives at Shag Valley. At Eakaia the remains 

 of three Palapteryx ingcns were found, the bones of which had 

 been intentionally broken ; but this bird has not been encoun- 

 tered elsewhere. The Palaptcryx crassus shows itself very 

 abundantly at Shag Valley and at Eakaia. Palapteryx 

 elepliantopus has been found in the same two localities, but in 

 less quantities than the preceding ones. 



It is therefore noticeable that man has eaten some of the 

 largest and most remarkable species of moa. Moreover, he 

 seems to have exterminated them in a very short time. None 

 of those which I have just mentioned were to be found at 

 Point Cave. They are replaced by the Euryapteryx and the 

 Meionomis, especially by the Meionomis dicliformis, which the 

 natives — although they sometimes killed it — seem to have 

 passed by so long as they could hunt Palapteryx.^) I put 

 here in a tabular form the results of the researches made by 

 Dr. Haast in some of the localities where man fed on the 

 moa, adding the indications given by the author of the greater 

 or less abundance of bones belonging to the different species. 



Genus Dinornis. 

 D. robustus (Shag Valley, a few bones). 

 D. gracilis (Eakaia, prevailing). 

 D. struthioidcs (Eakaia, prevailing). 



Genus Palapteryx. 

 P. ingcns (Eakaia, three skeletons). 

 P. crassus (Shag Valley, prevailing ; Eakaia, plentiful). 

 P. elejphantopus (Shag Valley, less ; Eakaia, few). 



Genus Meionornis. 

 M. casuarinus (Shag Valley, very few ; Eakaia, prevailing ; 



Point Cave, 15-05). 

 M. didiformis (Shag Valley, very few ; Eakaia, numerous ; 



Point Cave, 53-03). 



(118.) "Address," p. 86 ; " Third Paper," p. 97 ; "Researches in Sum- 

 ner Moa-cave," p. So ; " On a Moa Encampment," p. 99. 



(119.) Letter from Mr. W. H. G. Roberts (Transactions, vol. vii., 

 p. 548). 



