342 Transactions. 



Geological. 



Scattered throughout the " Transactions of the New Zealand Institute " 

 are numerous papers dealing with the moa. Some refer merely to the 

 discovery of bones in middens, in banks of streams, caves, and so on ; 

 several of great importance refer to the structure and general anatomy ; 

 and several deal with the geological distribution. 



When at Home two years ago I, made several special visits to the 

 Geological and Palaeontological Section, Natural History Branch of the 

 British Museum. Here are found, in the class Aves, the orders Dinor- 

 nithiformes and Aepyornithiformes, which include fossil remains of the New 

 Zealand moa and Madagascar Aepyornis. The latter bear a close resem- 

 blance to the moa-structure of this country. The Madagascar fossil bird 

 remains belong to a recent geological period, and the opinion as to the age 

 of the New Zealand moas is expressed by the authorities as follows : " The 

 situation and state of preservation of the abundant remains which have 

 been found indicate that they existed till comparatively recent times, and 

 were probably exterminated by the present Maori inhabitants of the 

 Islands. Feathers which have been found associated with the bones show 

 the presence of a large after-shaft. . . . The moas are represented by 

 several genera, the largest member being Dinornis maximus. . . . Some 

 species seem to have survived until about four or five hundred years ago, 

 or even later in the South Island." 



The context will deal only with the East Coast district of th.e North 

 Island. For thirty-five years I have been travelling between Cape Turn- 

 again and East Cape on the coast, and Ruahine and Te Wai-iti Ranges on 

 the west. This represents the classic ground of the earlier missionaries and 

 collectors of moa-bones. For a number of years, and up to the time of his 

 death, I was on terms of the closest intimacy with the late Rev. William 

 Colenso, F.R.S., and my familiarity with the geological structure of the 

 district where traces of the moa have been observed places me in a favour- 

 able position in dealing with the geological distribution of the moa in terms 

 of time. 



For years records have been carefully kept of the various places where 

 bones, or egg-shells, footprints, and feather-markings have been found, and 

 as a result a map has been constructed showing the localities where 

 moa-remains occur in situ, and the details are entered here for the 

 benefit of future workers. The East Coast district extends for over 

 three hundred miles from north to south, and about a hundred miles at 

 its greatest width. The district presents features of its own that are 

 characteristic. 



Polack, who first saw " fossil ossifications " and related the legendary 

 lore concerning them, was a mere trader and collector of curios, but he 

 was an observant man, and suggested the rapid disappearance of certain 

 birds whose wings were short or were altogether absent. All the earlier 

 writers and collectors refer to the bones as being found in places where 

 water has been in motion. Thus the Rev. Williams, in 1842, says, "None 

 of the bones are found on dry land, but are all gathered from beds and 

 banks of fresh-water rivers, buried a little distance in the mud." Dieffen- 

 bach says, " They are found on the east coast of the Northern Island of 

 New Zealand, and are brought down by rivulets from a neighbouring moun- 

 tain called Hikorangi." Polack says the bones he saw were found near 

 a mountain called Ikorangi, far in the interior. He makes no mention 

 of being found in the beds of streams. 



