THE MUSEUM. 



365 



Brook Trout, under Oval Convex Glass. 



aphanapteryx or "snipe-billed red 

 hen," which lived on Mauritius Is'and 

 at the same epoch as the didus, and 

 which like it, is extinct. The aphan- 

 apteryx belonged to the group of .rails 

 and had an affinity especially with 'the 

 ocydromes of New Zealand. Its bill 

 resembled that ot the courli and the 

 ibis, and its size was less than that of 

 the didus. 



The skull of the phororhacos is 14 

 inches in length, while that of the di- 

 dus is but 10. A comparison of the 

 limbs proves that the form of the 

 phororhacos was not so squat as that 

 of the didus, and was more compar- 

 able to that of the aphanapter3^x. The 

 measurements of the leg of the didus 

 are as follows: femur, 6-5 inches; tibia, 

 9-5 inches; tarsus, 5-5 inches; altogeth- 

 er, 21 -5 inches for the entire limb; while 

 the phororhacos' leg measured as fol- 

 lows: femur, 9 inches; tibia, 16 inches; 

 tarsus, 12 inches; in all, 37 inches. 



The sternum of the phororhacos is 

 not known, so that it is impossible to 

 say whether it was carinate like that 

 of the didus, as seems probable, or 

 i^at and shield shaped like that of the 

 aepyornis. The feet have four toes, 

 as in the didus, and the caudal verte- 

 bra; come to a point, as in the reptiles, 

 instead of terminating in a tubercle 

 giving attachment to the powerful 

 muscles of the tail in all the birds that 

 have this organ well developed. The 

 bones of the phororhacos did not pos- 

 sess any cavities filled with air, but 

 were filled with marrow like those of 

 mammals. The bird was of an im- 

 posing stature and was comparable to 

 the ostrich, but more robust. Another 

 species of the same genus, the P. long- 

 issimus, reached great dimensions. 



The skull of the last named species 

 was 26 inches in length, a size that 

 that of few mammals reaches at the 

 present epoch. The skulls of the 



