148 Transactions. — Zoology. 



refer to the name of the bird. The early history of the dis- 

 covery of the fossil bones in the North Island is well known. 

 To these Owen gave the name Notornis inantelli, and this 

 name was also bestowed on the subsequently discovered living 

 specimen in the South Island. But Dr. Mayer, after a 

 careful examination of the skeleton of the Dresden specimen, 

 came to the conclusion that the South Island bird is a different 

 species. He named it Notornis hochstetteri. 



The examination by the late Professor Parker of the other 

 skeleton in the possession of the Otago Museum, as well as 

 the account given by Mr. A. Hamilton of portions of skeletons 

 in his possession, seem to me to support Mayer's opinion, and 

 for the future the Takahe should be spoken of as a distinct 

 species from the fossil. 



Length from the tip of the beak, along the curvature 



of the back, to the tip of the tail 

 Length of wing, from the flexure . . 

 Length of largest quill 

 Length of tail 

 Length of tibiotarsus, measured from the anterior 



angle of the upper extremity to the articulation 



of the middle toe 

 Length of middle toe and claw 

 Length of hind toe and claw 

 Length of bill, from corner of gape to tip . . 

 Height of bill at the base, across both mandibles, 



passing through the angle of the gape . . . . 2* 



Total length of head, from tip of beak to back of skull, 



along the line of the gape . . . . . . 4J 



*A fraction less. 



With regard to the slight difference in colouration between 

 this and the Dresden specimen, I have to make the following 

 remarks. The colour of the beak is not uniform. The base 

 is red, much more scarlet than in the picture either of the 

 first or second edition of Buller. Not only is the soft frontal 

 plate red, but this colour extends along the upper surface of 

 the horny beak itself for a distance of l^in. ; also, down the 

 sides, in front of the eye, to a distance of ^in. ; and along the 

 lower jaw for nearly the same extent. Thus the whole base 

 is bright-red. This tint then fades into a dull reddish-pink, 

 which extends to the tip ; but immediately in front of the red 

 base is a band of much paler pink, imperceptibly deepening 

 in tone towards the tip. In Buller's figure, in the second 

 edition, the beak has an orange tint ; and he describes it in his 

 diagnosis as " yellowish." On the perfectly fresh bird, how- 

 ever, it is distinctly pink, but fainter than in the figure of the 

 first edition. The soft frontal plate does not extend so far 

 back as the posterior corner of the eye, as Buller states to be 

 the case (2nd ed., p. 91). On the foot and leg the scales are 



