THE TAKAHE 195 



coots and water hens, where he found the greatest number of 

 cranial similarities with the fossils. Though the evidence upon 

 Avhich he worked was scanty and incomplete, being merely 

 portions of a fossilised slmll, his knowledge and wonderfully 

 accurate observations convinced him that there had existed in 

 New Zealand a bird which might be deemed to be the giant of the 

 coots, with so close an affinity to Porphyrio as at most to suggest 

 only a sub-generic distinction. So he thereupon established a 

 genus, named it Notornis, and gave to this colony an important 

 addition to its avi-fauna; the species he rightly called mantelli, 

 after the discoverer. For some time the living species was also 

 called mantelli, but Dr. Meyer, after examining a skeleton in the 

 Dresden ]\Iuseum, concluded that the South Island bird was a 

 different species, and he named it hoehstetteri. 



Strangely enough, it was JMr. Mantell who obtained the skin of 

 the first recorded live specimen of Notornis made kno^\ai to 

 science. Dr. Mantell has described how the bird came into his 

 son's possession. In 1849, it was taken by some sealers who were 

 pursuing their vocation in Dusky Bay. At Duck Cove, Resolution 

 Island, they saw the trail of a large and unknown bird on the 

 snow, with wiiich the ground was then covered. They followed 

 the footprints until they obtained a sight of the Notornis. Their 

 dogs at once pursued it, and, after a long chase, caught it alive 

 in the gully of a sound behind Resolution Island. It ran with 

 great speed, and, on being captured, uttered loud screams, and 

 fought and struggled violently. It was kept alive for three days; 

 on board the schooner, and was then killed. The precious body 

 was roasted and eaten by the crew, each partaking of the dainty,, 

 which was declared to be delicious. Mr. Mantell secured the skin. 

 He states that, according to native traditions, a large rail was 

 contemporary with the moa, and formed an article of food among 

 the Maoris' ancestors. It was known to the North Islanders by 

 the name of moho, and to the South Islanders as takahe; but, he 

 adds, the bird was considered by both natives and Europeans to 

 have been long before exterminated by the wild cats and dogs, 

 an individual not having been seen or heard of since the arrival 

 of the English colonists. To the natives of the pas or villages on 



