BY CAPTAIN F. W. HUTTON. 9 



on pi. 38, fig. 2, will show. Pachyornis elephantopus^ on pi. 56, 

 fig. 2, comes rather nearer, and Pachyornis (?) geranoides, on pi. 68, 

 fig. 6, still more so ; but none are so close, either in form or in 

 size, as EuryajUeryx yonderosa, which I have figured. In none of 

 the Dinornithidse is there the marked backward projection of the 

 trochanterial surface as is shown in the Queensland fossil, and it 

 is plain, therefore, that it can be at once distinguished from them 

 and should be put into a separate genus. 



Now conies the question. Does the Queensland bird belong to 

 the DinornithidsD at all % It may be said that the differences 

 pointed out are small ; but then we must remember that the 

 specimen itself is only a fragment, with most of the parts which 

 give special Dinornithidian characters absent ; and if in so small 

 a fragment we find a character which easily distinguishes it from 

 all the Dinornithidae and Apterygidae, we may well suppose it 

 probable that when more is known of the Queensland bird we 

 shall find many other characters in which it diflfered from the 

 Moas ; and to call it a Moa when the chances are much against 

 its being a Moa would only lead to erroneous conclusions in 

 questions relating to the origin and dispersal of the struthious 

 birds. 



But if the Queensland bird does not belong to the Dinornithidie, 

 to what family should it be referred % 



The posterior projection of the trochanterial surface, which is 

 the character by which the King's Creek fossil can be distinguished 

 from all the Dinornithida3 and Apterygidse, is present in the 

 femora of both the Cassowary and the Emu, but not much 

 developed. In the femur of the young Emu, however,"^ this 

 character is quite as strong as in the King's Creek fossil. It is 

 evidently a family characteristic of the Casuariidie, and I am 

 therefore inclined for the present to place the King's Creek fossil 

 in that family. It probably represents the ancestors of the Emus 

 and Cassowaries, for it shows a closer resemblance to the young 

 Emu than to any other bird with which I have been able to 

 compare it. 



* I have not the femur of a young Cassowary for comparison. 



