Letters, Extracts, Notices, S^c. 593 



The newly-discovered Extinct Gigantic Bird of South 

 Australia. — At the recent Meeting of tlie British Associa- 

 tion at Liverpool a letter was read in Section D, addressed to 

 Prof. Newton by Dr. Stirling of Adelaide^ giving a prelim- 

 inary account of the extinct gigantic bird of the Diprotodon- 

 beds in South Australia, to the discovery of which we have 

 alluded on former occasions (see ' Ibis/ 1894, p. 328, p. 577, 

 and 1896, p. 430). Dr. Stirling says:— "The bird is, no 

 doubt, more of an Emeu than anything else, though the head, 

 unfortunately much broken, is very different ; but, as regards 

 the limb- (leg-) bones, it has the proportions of the thick-set 

 Moas in the thigh-bone and tibia, and of the slender-legged 

 Moas in the tarsus, with absurdly small toes for such a bulk. 

 It is quite true that the outer toe has only four segments, 

 as has been stated in ' Nature ' [cf. ' Nature,' vol. I. p. 206, 

 1894*) ." The paper describing this most interesting discovery 

 by Dr. Stirling and Mr. Zietz has been read at a Meeting of 

 the Royal Society of South Australia, and will shortly be in 

 print. The name proposed for the new bird is Genyornis 

 newtoni ; Genyornis being in reference to the large size of the 

 lower jaw, and the specific term to Prof. Newton, to whom 

 the species is dedicated. 



LI. — Obituary. 



Lord Lilford. — It was with the deepest regret that we 

 announced in our last Part the sad loss which the British 

 Ornithologists^ Union had sustained by the death of one 

 who had been for many years its President, and an original 

 member of the brotherhood formed in November 1858. 

 At the time (June 18th) it was not possible to give any 

 adequate sketch of our late President's career, and even now 

 we wish that the record of such a genial man, thorough 

 naturalist, and good sportsman had fallen to more capable 

 hands. 



Thomas Lyttleton Powys, fourth Baron Lilford, born 18th 

 March, 1833, was the son of the third peer by the Hon. Mary 

 Elizabeth Fox, daughter of the third Lord Holland. Even 

 when at Harrow he had begun to contribute to the ' Zoo- 



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