PROFESSOR OWEN'S OBSERVATIONS ON THE DODO. 333 



of equal length with, or is longer than, the middle trochlea ; the proportions of the 

 three trochleae in the Vultures corresponding best with those in the Dodo. Another 

 character by which the Dodo resembles the Vulture more than the Eagle is manifested 

 by the proportions of the proximal phalanx of the second toe (innermost of the three 

 anterior ones) ; this is very short, and is often anchylosed to the second phalanx in the 

 Eagles ; it is almost as long in the Vultures as in the Dodo. 



Upon the whole, then, the Raptorial character prevails most in the structure of the 

 foot, as in the general form of the beak of the Dodo, and the present limited amount of 

 our anatomical knowledge of the extinct terrestrial Bird of the Mauritius supports the 

 conclusion that it is an extremely modified form of the Raptorial order*. Devoid of the 

 power of flight, it could have had small chance of obtaining food by preying upon the 

 members of its own class ; and if it did not exclusively subsist on dead and decaying 

 organized matter, it most probably restricted its attacks to the class of Reptiles and to 

 the littoral fishes, Crustacea, &c., which its well-developed back-toe and claw would 

 enable it to seize and hold with a firm gripe. 



If equally diligent search for bones of the Dodo were made in the superficial deposits, 

 the alluvium of rivers and the caves, in the islands of Mauritius and Rodriguez, as has 

 been prosecuted in New Zealand in regard to the extinct wingless birds of that island, 

 there can be little doubt that such praiseworthy search would be as successful and as 

 important in advancing our knowledge of the nature and affinities of the Dodo f. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 

 PLATE XXXVIII. 



Fig. I. Back view of the cranium of Dinornis struthoides. 



2. Side view of ditto. 



3. Upper view of ditto. 



* Prof. De Blainville has indicated this affinity of the Dodo in the ' Nouvelles Annales du Museum,' 4to, 

 t. iv. p. 27, 1835. See also Mr. Broderip's admirable article Dodo, in the ' Penny Cyclopaedia,' which concludes 

 with the following passage : — " The Vulluridic are, as we know, amongst the most active agents for removing 

 the rapidly decomposing animal remains in tropical climates, and they are provided with a prodigal development 

 of wing to waft them speedily to the spot tainted by the corrupt incumbrance. But no such power of wing 

 would be required by a bird appointed to clear away the decaying and decomposing masses of a luxuriant tro- 

 pical vegetation — a kind of Vulture for vegetable impurities, so to speak, — and such an office would not be by 

 any means inconsistent with comparative slowness of motion." 



t Mr. Strickland's interesting communication to the Zoological Society (' Proceedings of Scientific Meeting,' 

 April '23, 1844) justifies the expectation that remains of other extinct brevipennate terrestrial birds, besides the 

 Dodo, would be met with in the islands of Rodriguez and Bourbon. 



