DESCRIPTION OF THE FRONTISPIECE. 



(Extracted from Mr. Gould's " Birds of Australia?) 



NOTORNIS MANTELLJ. 



"THE acquisition of a new species is always a matter of great interest; but 

 when, as in the present instance, it is of one so nearly extinct as to be only known 

 to us previously by its fossil remains, the interest becomes enhanced in the highest 

 degree. It is well known that the existence of the celebrated Dodo is all but tradi- 

 tionary, a fate which, but for MR. WALTER MANTELL'S fortunate acquisition of a 

 living example, would probably have been shared by the present bird, the characters 

 of which were first made known to us by PROFESSOR OWEN, from the fossil bones 

 previously discovered and sent home by the talented explorer after whom it is 

 named : those relics are now in the British Museum. (See p. 124.) 



u That few living examples remain, is evident from the fact that the mounted 

 specimen in DR. MA>~TELL'S possession is the only one that has yet been seen : all 

 the information respecting it that has been obtained is comprised in the account 

 communicated by Dr. Mantell to the Zoological Society of London, and published 

 in their ' Proceedings' for 1850. (See p. 126.) 



" Upon a cursory view of this bird it might be taken for a gigantic kind of 

 Porphyrio, but on examination of its structure it will be found generically distinct. 

 It is allied to Porphyrio in the form of its bill, and in its general colouring, and 

 to Tribonyx in the structure of its feet, while in the feebleness of its wings, and 

 in the form of the tail, it differs from both. From personal observation of the habits 

 of the two recent genera above named, I may venture to affirm that the habits 

 and economy of the present bird more closely resemble those of the former than 

 of the latter; that it is doubtless of a recluse and extremely shy disposition; that 

 being deprived by the feeble structure of its wings of the power of flight, it was 

 compelled to depend upon its swiftness of foot for the means of evading its natural 

 enemies ; and that, as is the case with Tribonyx, a person may be in its vicinity for 

 weeks without even catching a glimpse of it. From the thickness of its plumage 

 and the great length of its back-feathers, we may infer that it affects low and 

 humid situations, marshes, the banks of rivers, and the coverts of dripping ferns, 

 so abundant in its native country ; like Porphyrio, it doubtless enjoyed the power 

 of swimming, but it would seem from the structure of the legs to be more terres- 

 trial in its habits than the members of that genus. I have carefully compared the 

 bill of this bird with that figured by Professor Owen under the name of Notornis 

 Mantetti, and have little doubt that they are referable to one and the same species. 



" Head, neck, and breast, upper part of the abdomen and flanks, purplish blue ; 

 back, rump, upper tail-coverts, lesser wing coverts, and tertiaries, dark olive 

 green, tipped with verditer green; at the nape of the neck a band of rich blue 

 separating the purplish blue of the neck, from the green of the body ; wings rich 



b 



