152 ANIMAL LIFE PAST AND PRESENT. 



proper care and sufficient knowledge. Thus in 1839 a 

 man brought to Sir R Owen the broken shaft of the 

 thigh-bone of some large animal, which he stated had 

 been obtained from New Zealand, where the natives 

 believed that similar bones were those of a large eagle. 

 The specimen was a somewhat unpromising one, but 

 after careful comparison the Professor confidently pro- 

 nounced that it belonged to an extinct bird consider- 

 ably larger than any ostrich, for which he proposed 

 the name of Dinornis. Other specimens soon after 

 brought to this country established the correctness of 

 this bold identification, and showed that giant birds 

 far surpassing in size any previously known must have 

 existed at a comparatively recent date, and in extra- 

 ordinary numbers in New Zealand. In the swamps 

 especially the well-known one of Glenmark, near 

 Canterbury these bones, and in some cases nearly 

 entire skeletons, are very abundant ; while in caves 

 there have been obtained not only parts of skeletons 

 with the skin still adhering to them, but even well- 

 preserved feathers, and broken egg-shells. Although 

 the Maoris well know that these remains belonged to 

 gigantic birds, and give them a name of which the 

 word Moa is generally considered to be a corruption, 

 yet there is some difference of opinion as to whether 

 their ancestors ever saw these birds in the liesh ; some 

 authorities considering that they were killed off by the 

 race which is believed to have inhabited New Zealand 

 before the advent of the Maoris. Still, in any case, 

 Moas must have existed up to a very late epoch ; and 



