ROOM II. FOSSIL CRANIUM OF NOTORNIS. 125 



with the remains of the Dinornis, <fec., from the menaccanite 

 sand at Waingongoro, which a recent discovery has unex- 

 pectedly invested with peculiar interest and importance. 



The fossils in question furnished the data on which Pro- 

 fessor Owen established the genus Notornis (Southern Bird). 1 



The cranium (Lign. 31) is 4| inches long, and 1| inch 

 wide, and is remarkable for its quadrate form ; the front, back, 



LIGN. 31. CRANIUM AND MANDIBLES OF NOTORVIS MANTELLI : FROM THK 



BONE BED OF WAIXGONGORO. (| fiat. Size.) 



and sides being nearly equal in breadth. The extent of the 

 temporal fossae are relatively greater than in any other known 

 bird. 



The mandibles are sharp, like those of the raven, but more 

 compressed laterally, and closely resemble in shape and 

 structure those of the Purple Coot, or Sultana (Porphyrio), 

 except in size. The general form of the skull approaches 

 nearest that of the Brachypteryx, or short-winged Rail of New 

 Zealand. 2 



The sternum (figured in " Zool. Trans.," PL IV. fig. 5 and 6) 

 is remarkably narrow, and its keel is less prominent, even 



1 These specimens are figured and described in *' Zool. Trans." vol. 

 iii. PI. LVL; vol. iv. PI. IV. fig. 20. 



2 Brachypteryx. " Besides a species of true Porphyrio (P. melanotus) 

 in New Zealand, there exists in that island a peculiar and highly interest- 

 ing form of the Rallidse, in which the wings, although not so rudimentary 

 as in the Apteryx, are nevertheless so contracted in their development, 

 as to be useless 'for the purpose of flight. This bird is the type of the 

 genus Brachypieryx a genus as characteristic of New Zealand as is 

 the Apteryx itself. PROF. OWEN in " Zool. Trans." vol. iii. p. 370. 



The anatomical characters of the skull of Notornis are given in detail 

 in " Zool. Trans." vol. iii. p. 367. 



