61 



the species of the North Island were distinct from those of the South 

 Island. To birds that coiild neither fly nor swim — at least swim well, 

 — the channel called Cook's Straits would prove an efFectual bar to 

 any migration from oiie island to another. With each successiAe 

 addition of mateliais for a complete history of this most remarkable 

 family of birds, I feel, however, chiefly impressed with the con- 

 viction of how little comparatively v/e still kriow respecting them, 

 and how much more is likely, through the enlightened co-opevation 

 of active, resolnte, and accomplished explorers, likę Mr. Walter 

 Mantell, to be, hereafter, contributed towards a perfect history of the 

 New Zealand -^vingless birds. 



Of the very remarkable species of Dinomis based upon the 

 povverfully developed limbs, the bones of which are deseribed in 

 the foregoing pages, Mr. Mantell' s collection includes right and left 

 femora, right and left tibise, right and left fibulse, right and left 

 metatarsi, and a considerahle collection of toe-bones, from which, 

 probably, other entire feet might be reconstructed, in addition to 

 the one of the left foot now submitted to the Society. There are 

 also the t\vo femora and the two metatarsi of an immature bird, 

 apparently, by their proportions, from one iudividual, to which niay 

 also belong the proximal end of a tibia, wanting the articular epi- 

 physis. The femora, as in the other birds, retain the tvvo articular 

 ends, which are simply rougher than in the adult, having been 

 covered by a thicker cartilage, but are uot developed upon distinct 

 osseous pieces, as in land mammals. The proximal epiphysis is 

 wanting in both the immature metatarsi, exhibiting the separate ex- 

 panded ends of the three constituent bones terminating in the three 

 prominent trochleae below. The length of the femur of this young 

 bird is 11 inches, that of the metatarse 7^ inches. They already 

 present the characteristie robustness of the adult bird * . 



2. On a nem"^ Turkey, Meleagris mexicana. 

 By j. Gould, Esa., F.R.S., &c. 



In the lapse of time the origin of several of the aniroals which man 

 has subjected to bis dominion, and which are of the greatest service 

 to his necessities or his pleasures, has become involved in obscurity. 

 As instances in point we may cite among quadrupeds the Camel, the 

 Horse, the Dog, &c., and among birds the various Gallinacece, Ana- 

 tidcB and ColumbidcB, all of which were derived from Asia. The pro- 

 ductions of the New "World have not yielded such ready obedience 

 to his sway, since no one of its ąuadrupeds has yet been domesticated, 

 and only one of its birds — the Turkey ; but a likę fate, if I mistake 

 not, has attended the origin of this solitary acquisition, which, 

 although the bird has not been known to us more than 300 years, 

 is equally wrapped in uncertainty. 



* This paper will appear in the Transactions of the Society, illustrated with 

 figures of the bones. 



