DINOKNIS GIGANTEUS. 79 



size, measuring no less than fourteen feet in altitude, 

 and not using its wings as organs of flight. When 

 this statement, based on such apparently slight 

 grounds, first appeared in print, it was scouted as 

 ridiculous, no one believing that such a monster 

 had ever existed. However, some time afterwards, 

 among another collection that arrived at the 

 museum, many bones and remains of the Dinornis, 

 as it was named, were found. From these a 

 skeleton, perfect with the exception of the skull, 

 was formed, under the superintendence of Professor 

 Owen, which fully confirmed the truth of his 

 theory, and proved beyond doubt the form and. 

 structure of this mightiest of the feathered creation. 

 Since then many remains have been sent over, and 

 four genera, Dinornis, Palapteryx, Nestor, and Notor- 

 nis, have been established, the last named being a 

 large bird allied to the rails and coots. Of the genus 

 Dinornis, five species have been discovered, of which 

 the smallest was nearly similar in dimensions to 

 the Kivi or Apteryx, and the largest, D. giganteus, 

 attained the colossal height of fifteen feet ! 



Some idea of this enormous bulk may be formed 

 from the fact, that a full-grown ostrich very rarely 

 measures more than eight feet, counting from the 

 ground to the top of the head. In form, it must 

 have approached the cassowary rather than the 

 ostrich, the legs being shorter in proportion to the 



