S ON DINORNIS (?) QUEENSLANDLE, 



Among the Dinornithidt^, the nearest approacli I can find to 

 the specimen is the femur of Furyapteryx jmnderosa, which is 

 much the same size. But a proximal view of both shows great 

 differences in the shape of the trochanter and the ecto-trochanterial 

 surfaces. This will at once be seen by an examination of the 

 figures annexed, which are in each case one-third the natural size. 



Proximal View of Femur (^ nat. size). 



Dinonm (?) QueemlancUai. Euryapteryx ponderosa. 



When the axes of the heads of each bone are placed parallel, it 

 will be seen that the trochanter in the Queensland specimen 

 extends much more posteriorly than in the New Zealand bone, 

 so that the posterior margin of the articular surface in the 

 Queensland specimen forms a deep curve, which might almost 

 be described as an angle, while in Euryapteryx the same margin 

 is only gently sinuated. Anteriorly, also, in the Queensland 

 fossil the trochanter is narrower, projects more, and is slightly 

 concave on the outer anterior margin ; while in the New Zealand 

 bird the ecto-trochanterial surface is markedly convex. 



The proximal end of the femur of Euryapteryx gravis has 

 much the same shape* as in E. ponderosa; while, if the 

 Queensland bone is compared with the femur of any other 

 genus of the Dinornithid?e, the differences will be found to be still 

 greater, as a glance at Dinor7iis giganteus in Owen's " Extinct 

 Birds of New Zealand," pi. 36, fig. 1, or at Mesopteryx casuarina^ 



* See Owen's " Extinct Birds of New Zealand,"' pi. 41a, fig. 2. 



