.558 Transactions. — Geology. 



The bones were found chiefly in an old swamp, covered by 

 from 4ft. to 12ft., or even more, of peat. They were accom- 

 panied by bones of Harpagornis, Aptornis, and Cnemiornis, 

 Apteryx australis and A. oiveni, Ocydrovms (sp.), and 

 Sphenodon punctatus. Dr. Von Haast also mentions bones of 

 Nestor andof Anas finscliil, but they are not now in the Museum. 

 In his description of the locality he points out that the alluvial 

 river-beds are older than the swamp deposit, but that there is 

 no difference in the species of moas found in each. He says, 

 " All the different species, as it were, have appeared together, 

 and have afterwards become extinct about the same time."* 



The Glenmark collections have been dispersed over nearly 

 the whole world, and it is impossible now to arrive at any ac- 

 curate results as to the relative numbers and measurements 

 of the different species found there ; but there are still in the 

 Museum 126 metatarsi, 131 tibiae, and 116 femora of Meio- 

 nornis, collected in the swamp, and these are sufficient to give 

 a correct idea of the sizes of the s]pecies of this genus. With 

 this object in view, I have measured all these bones, and 

 tabulated them in the same way as I did those from Kapua 

 and Enfield, and arrive at the following results : — 



Meionornis casuarinus. 

 This species is smaller and more slender than at Kapua or 

 Enfield, the average length of the metatarsus being 210nim. 

 (8-25in.) ; of the tibia, 463mm. (18-25in.) ; and of the femur, 

 263mm. (10-5in.). It is the " No. 3, D. casuarimis, smallest 

 size," of Dr. Von Haast' s paper in the first volume of the 

 " Transactions of the New Zealand Institute." The accom- 

 panying diagram gives the two principal measurements of all 

 the leg-bones, and shows that there is only a single point of 

 •concentration in each. Consequently there is no evidence of 

 three distinct sizes, as supposed by Dr. Von Haast. M. casu- 

 arinus appears to have been at Glenmark nearly four times as 

 •common as M. didinus. The following are the numbers of the 

 bones : Metatarsi, about 97 ; tibige, 104 ; femora, about 90. 



Meionornis didinus. 

 This species is about the same size as at Kapua and En- 

 field, but it is not so well marked off from M. casuarinus ; 

 indeed, no line can be drawn dividing either the metatarsi or 

 the femora of the two species. It is only the tibise which are 

 distinctly separated, and even with this bone the point of con- 

 •centration is on the side nearest to 71/. casuarinus. It is 

 " No. 4, D. didiformis, largest size," of Dr. Von Haast's paper 

 .already referred to. The following are the numbers of the 

 bones : Metatarsi, about 31 ; tibiae, 27 ; femora, about 26. 



* " Geology of Canterbury and Westland," Christchurcb, 1879, p. 443. 



