FEATHERED GIANTS 157 



other sTceletons aiid numerous hones are to he foririd in 

 other institutions, hut the author is not atcare of any egg 

 being in this eoiintry. Specimens of the jEpyornis are 

 rare in this country^ but Mr. Robert Gilfort, of Orange, 

 N. ./., is the possessor of a very fine egg. A number of 

 eggs have been sold in London, the prices ranging from 

 £200 dozen to £^^, this last being much less than prices 

 paid for eggs of the great auk. But then, the great 

 auk is someiohat of a fad, and there are Just enough 

 eggs in existence to bring one into the market every 

 little while. Besides, the number of eggs of the great 

 auk is a fixed quantity, icMle no one knoics how many 

 more of JEpyornis remain to be discovered in the swamps 

 of Madagascar. No specimens of the gigantic Pata- 

 gonian birds are noiv in this country, but a fine exam- 

 ple of one of the smaller forms, Pelycornis, inchiding 

 the only breast-bone yet found, is in the Museum of 

 Princeton University. 



The largest knoion tibia of a Moa, the longest bird- 

 bone ktiown, is in the collection of the Canterbury AIu- 

 seum, Christchurch, New Zealand ; it is 3 feet 3 inches 

 long. This, hozcever, is exceptional, the measurements 

 of the leg-bones of an ordinary Dinornis maximus 

 being asfollozvs: Femur, 18 ijwhes ; tibia, 32 inches; 

 tarsus, 19 inches, a total of 5 feet 9 iiwhes. The egg 

 measures 10^ by 6^ inches. 



There is plenty of literature, and very interesting 



