578 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



alike in the recent and fossil specimens, and that the abbrevi- 

 ated and feeble development of the wings, both in their bones 

 and plumage, were in perfect accordance with the indications 

 afforded by the fossil humerus and sternum found by him at 

 Waingongoro, and now in the British Museum, as pointed out 

 by Professor Owen in the memoir above referred to. 



" In concluding this brief narrative of the discovery of a 

 living example of a genus of birds once contemporary with 

 the colossal Moa, and hitherto only known by its fossil remains, 

 I beg to remark that this highly interesting fact tends to con- 

 firm the conclusions expressed in my communications to the 

 Geological Society — namely, that the JDinornis, Palapteryx, 

 and related forms, were coeval with some of the existing 

 species of birds peculiar to New Zealand, and that their final 

 extinction took place at no very distant period, and long after 

 the advent of the aboriginal Maories." 



Upon a cursory view of this bird it might be mistaken for 

 a gigantic kind of Porphyrio, but on an examination of its 

 structure it will be found to be generically distinct. It is 

 allied to Forphyrio in the form of its bill and in its general 

 colouring, and to Trihonyx in the structure of its feet, while 

 in the feebleness of its wings and the structure of its tail it 

 differs from both. 



From personal observation of the habits of Trihonyx and 

 Forphyrio, I may venture to affirm that the habits and economy 

 of the present bird more closely resemble those of the former 

 than those of the latter; that it is doubtless of a recluse 

 and extremely shy disposition ; that being deprived, by the 

 feeble structure of its wing, of the power of flight, it is com- 

 pelled to depend upon its swiftness of foot for the means 

 of evading its natural enemies ; and that as is the case with 

 Trihonyx, a person may be in its vicinity for weeks without 

 even catching a glimpse of it. 



From the thickness of its plumage and the great length of 

 its back-feathers, we may infer that it affects low and humid 



