188 Dr. A. B. Meyer on 



Island, in the Leyden Museum, obtained by Mr. Keulemans, 

 according to Dr. Finsch (in litt.), agrees in nearly every 

 respect with the male, except in the following points : — The 

 feathers of the crest, which are as long, if not longer, than 

 those in the male, are uniform brown, without the metallic 

 lustre ; the coloration of the back is a little darker, the 

 upper wing-coverts shew less of the bronze lustre, and the 

 feathers of the neck, sides of the head, and the lower part of 

 the crest have lighter shafts ; the dimensions also are some- 

 what smaller — wing 313 mm. ; tail 1 10 ; tarsi 67. According 

 to Keulemans, "the bill is brick-red ; the iris brown; the 

 feet reddish yellow ; the naked skin of the head black/' 



It would appear from Cassin's statements that the " young 

 bird has the under parts with oval spots of dull yellowish/' 



Mr. Keulemans gives a good account of the habits of this 

 bird in Prince's Island, where it is known under the name 

 of " Corvao." 



In the preparation of this paper I have had to resort to 

 Dr. Dubois, Dr. Finsch, and Mr. Ogilvie-Grant for in- 

 formation, which has been freely and kindly given, and. to 

 them I owe my best thanks. 



XVII.— On the Eggs of the Moa. By Dr. A. B. Meyer. 



When visiting the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons 

 of England in the autumn of 1901, I saw an egg of the Moa, 

 and not having been previously aware of its existence I tried 

 to hunt it up in the literature of the subjeet. On this 

 occasion, as well as formerly, when studying the literature of 

 the eggs of jEpyornis (see Abh. Ber. k. Zool. Mus. Dresden, 

 vol. ix. no. 7, 1901), I collected certain facts concerning the 

 known eggs of the Moa — reproduced here in an abbreviated 

 form. 



Moa's eggs are very much rarer than those of JEpyornis, 

 thirty-six of the latter being known, whereas only three or four 

 perfect Moa's eggs are as yet recorded, besides a dozen or 



