315 



DINORNIS. 



DINORNIS. 



343 



fossil state, are still living, they will prove to be of comparatively 

 small types, related to the Apteryx, the living diminutive representa- 

 tive of the stupendous ostrich-like birds which once trod the soil of 

 New Zealand. My son succeeded however in forming the most 

 interesting collection of these remains hitherto obtained. It com- 

 prised between 700 and 800 bones belonging to birds of various 

 species and genera, and differing considerably in magnitude and age, 

 some belonging to very young individuals, in which the epiphyses of 

 the long bones are distinct from the shaft, while others are those of 

 adult and aged birds." The chief part of this collection is now 

 deposited in the British Museum. 



The locality from which these specimens were obtained is thus 

 described by Mr. Mantell : " Near Waikoriati, 17 miles north of Otago, 

 there is a headland called Island Point, about three-quarters of a 

 mile in length and 150 feet in height ; it consists of sandy clay 

 distinctly stratified and traversed by dykes of columnar trap, the 

 columns begin at right angles to the sides of the veins. In a little 

 bight, south of Island Point, on the side of the bar which unites that 

 headland to the mainland at the entrance of the River Waikoriati in 

 front of the native Kaika, named Makuku, is situated the exposed 

 parts of the so-called turbary deposit, whence bones of Moos and 

 other birds of various kinds have been obtained in such number and 

 perfection. This bed is about 3 feet in depth and not more than 100 

 yards in length, and lies immediately on a stratum of tertiary blue 

 clay ; its inland boundary is obscured by vegetation, and appears to be 

 of a very limited extent ; the bed is entirely submerged, and only 

 visible when the tide has receded. It consults almost wholly of 

 decayed vegetable matter, and its surface is studded with the undis- 

 turbed roots of small trees, which appear to have been burnt to the 

 ground at some remote period. It is a light, sandy, elastic earth, 

 of a blackish-brown colour, and emits a strong fetid odour when 

 first collected ; from the large quantity of animal matter it contain* I 

 conceive it wag originally a swamp or morass, in which the New 

 Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax) once grew luxuriantly. It is now 

 covered by a thin layer of sand when exposed at low water. . . 

 Although bones of several species of Moa, especially of the largest 

 kinds, have been collected from this locality in considerable numbers 

 and in great perfection, yet as the bed is rapidly diminishing from the 

 inroads of the sea, there is great reason to fear that it will be entirely 

 washed away, without yielding to the palaeontologist all the desired 

 information respecting the extinct animals whose relics it enshrines ; 

 for the natives and whalers are well aware of the interest attached 

 to the bones by Europeans, and they seize indiscriminately on any 

 specimen exposed by the receding tide, and if it cannot be readily 

 extracted they break it off, and thus many a valuable relic has been 

 destroyed. Their cupidity and avarice have too been so much excited 

 by the large rewards injudiciously given by casual visiters, that the 

 cost of specimens has increased to an unreasonable amount." 



In their general aspect the bones which have been obtained from 

 these spots closely resemble those obtained from the ossiferous caverns 

 in Germany. Professor Owen gives an analysis of their chemical 

 composition, and from this infers that they may have been recently 

 deposited. Mr. Mantell obtained bones also from North Island : 

 " On the western shore of the North Island, about sixty miles south- 

 west of New Plymouth, there is a stream called Waingougou, which 

 empties itself into the sea at about a mile and a half south of Wai mate 

 in the Ngtftiruanui district. Part of the neighbouring country is 

 elevated table-land, with deep tortuous gullies, through which the 

 torrents and streams take their course to the sea. That of Waingou- 

 gou, which is as tortuous as any of them, takes its rise in the neigh- 

 bouring volcanic ridge, and has evidently at a former period discharged 

 itself far distant from its present embouchure, as is proved by the 

 existence of a line of cliffs which extends inland, and has manifestly 

 been produced by the corroding action of the river. Driven from its 

 course probably by a change in the relative level of the land and sea, 

 the stream has formed its present channel, which cuts through a bed 

 of loose conglomerate, 100 feet thick, overlying a deposit of finely- 

 laminated sand, which covers a thick stratum of blue clay full of 

 shells. The conglomerate consists of pebbles and large boulders of 

 an infinite variety of volcanic rocks ; the clay is the lowermost visible 

 bed ; the shells it contains are marine, and resemble species existing 

 in the South Pacific Ocean ; but I suspect many will be found speci- 

 fically distinct from any recent forms. Between the two bluffs near 

 the embouchure of the river there is a sand-flat about 200 yards 

 across, and this on my first visit was strewn with bones of men, inoas 

 and other birds, and two species of seals. I had some deep openings 

 made near the foot of the ancient cliff on the top of which is the Pa 

 or native village of Ohawetokoloko, and at the same level as the flat 

 mi 1iich I had observed the strewn fragments of bones I came to a 

 regular ossifurous deposit. The bones however though perfect were 

 as soft and plastic as putty, so that if grasped strongly they changed 

 as it were by magic into pipe-clay ; and it was necessary to dig them 

 up with great care, and expose them to the air and sun to dry, before 

 tlj'-y could be packed and removed. . . Unfortunately the natives 

 soon caught sight of my operations, and came down in swarms, men, 

 women, and children, trampling on the bones I had carefully extracted 

 and laid out to dry, and seizing upon every morsel exposed by the 

 spade. My patience was tried to the utmost, and to avoid blows I 



was obliged to retreat and leave them in the possession of the field ; 

 and to work they went in right earnest, and quickly made sad havoc. 

 No sooner was a bone perceived than a dozen natives pounced upon 

 it, and began scratching away the sand, and smashed the specimen at 

 once. It was with great trouble, and by watching the opportunity of 

 working in the absence of the Maoris, that I procured anything worth 

 having." 



The remains thus procured by Mr. Mantell wore placed at the dis- 

 posal of Professor Owen by Dr. Gideon Mantell, who was thus enabled 

 to supply many deficiences in his former descriptions of these remark- 

 able birds. They afforded specimens of the bones of Dinornis curtus, 

 D. didiformis, and 2). casuarinus ; also of Palapteryx ingens, variety 

 robustus, aud of a new species, P. geranoides. Notwithstanding the 

 great number of bones that have thus been examined, one fragment 

 only of the wings or humerus has been detected. This indicates the 

 rudimentary condition of the wings in these birds. The humerus 

 found Professor Owen regards as belonging to a species of Palapteryx. 

 The following is a summary of the nature of this collection by Pro- 

 fessor Owen : " There are not less than 190 phalanges of the toes 

 referrible to five or six species of Dinornis, Palapteryx, and Notm-nis, 

 and there are 8 tarso-metatarsals, with the articular surface for a very 

 strong hind toe, and of a conformation more nearly resembling those 

 of the Dodo than of the Dinornis and Palapteryx, but shorter aud 

 thicker in proportion, and appertaining to the same bird as the tibia 

 and fibula described in my Memoir of 1843 under the name of 2). 

 otidiformis. The proximal articulation of this remarkable form of 

 tarso-metatarsal exactly fits the distal end of the tibia figured, and 

 also that of a corresponding fractured tibia in Mr. Mantell' B collec- 

 tion ; which also contains the proximal end of another tibia, a fibula, 

 an entire femur, and distal ends of two other femora, of the same 

 species. The large surface for the hind toe ; the strong calcaneal 

 process forming a complete bony canal for the flexor tendons at the 

 back part of the proximal end of the tarso-metatarsal ; the perforation 

 above the interspace between the outer and middle metatarsals for 

 the tendon of the adductor muscle of the fourth toe, and the more 

 posterior position of the condyle for the inner toe all concur to 

 indicate the generic distinction of the bird to which it belonged from 

 either Dinornis or Palapteryx ; and I propose to distinguish the new 

 genus by the name of Aptornis and the present species A. otidiformis." 

 ('Zool. Trans.' iii. p. 347.) 



With the remains of the bones found on the banks of the river 

 Waingougou were mixed the fragments of egg-shells. The eggs to 

 which the fragments belonged were supposed to be about the size of 

 a tea-cup. In connection with this subject the recent discovery of a 

 large egg in Madagascar is interesting. 



In a report to the French Academic de Sciences, M. Isidore Geoffrey 

 St. Hillaire described three enormous fossil eggs from Madagascar, and 

 some bones belonging to the same bird. The captain of a merchant- 

 vessel trading to Madagascar one day observed a native using for a 

 domestic purpose a vase which much resembled an egg, and upon 

 examination proved to be one. The native stated that many such 

 were to be found in the interior of the island, and eventually procured 

 the eggs and bones exhibited by M. St. Hillaire. The largest of these 

 eggs is equal in bulk to 135 hens' eggs, and will hold two gallons of 

 water. M. St. Hillaire proposes the name of Epiornis for the monster 

 biped of which these marvellous eggs and bones are the first evidence 

 brought under the notice of naturalists. Casts of these eggs have 

 been sent to this country, and are to be seen in various museums. 



Amongst the bones sent home by Mr. Mantell, the remains of a 

 new genus, Notornis, were found. It belongs to the same family as the 

 Brachypteryx and the Rallidt?, and the interest that attaches to it in 

 this relation is the fact that Mr. Mantell succeeded in obtaining a 

 single living specimen. Many persons had reported the existence of 

 a wingless bird as large as a fowl, and with red beak and legs, with a 

 cry sounding like ' Keo Keo.' The following is Dr. MantelTs account of 

 the discovery of this bird : "On my son's second visit to the southern 

 part of the Middle Island (as Government Commissioner for thu 

 settlement of native claims), he fell in with some sealers who had 

 been pursuing their avocations along the little frequented islets and 

 gullies of Dusky Bay on the south-western shores, aud from them 

 obtained the skin of a recent specimen of Notornis Muntdli. It 

 appeared that when frequenting the coasts in search of seals aud other 

 game, these men observed on the snow, with which the ground was 

 then thickly covered, the foot-tracks of a large and strange bird, and 

 after following the trail for a considerable distance, they caught sight 

 of the object of their search, which ran with great speed and for a 

 long while distanced their dogs, but was at length driven up a gully 

 in Resolution Island, and captured alive. It uttered loud screams, 

 and fought and struggled violently ; it was kept alive three or four days 

 on board the schooner and then killed, and the body roasted and 

 eaten by the crew, each partaking of the dainty, which was said to be 

 delicious. The skin, with the skull and bones of the feet and legs, was 

 preserved, and fortunately obtained by my son while in good condition, 

 and thus perhaps the last of the race of Mohos was preserved for 

 the naturalists of Europe. Upon comparing the head of the bird with 

 the fossil crania and mandibles, my sou was at once convinced of the 

 specific identity of the recent and fossil specimens ; and so delighted 

 was he by the discovery of a living example of one of the supposed 



