ADDITIONAL NOTES 



TO THE PRESENT EDITION. MARCH, 1849. 



Gigantic Birds of New Zealand. — Vol. i., p. 287. 



Au extensive and highly interesting collection of" bones, referrible to 

 several species of the Moa ( Dinomis of Owen), and to three or four other 

 genera of birds, formed by Mr. Walter Mantell, of Wellington, New Zea- 

 land, has recently arrived in England, and is now deposited in the Brit- 

 ish Museum. This series consists of between 700 and 800 specimens, 

 belonging to different parts of the skeletons of many individuals of 

 various sizes and ages. Some of the largest vertebrae, tibiae, and fem- 

 ora equal in magnitude the most gigantic previously knowni, while oth- 

 ers are not larger than the corresponding bones of the living apteryx. 

 Among these relics are the skulls and mandibles of two genera, the Di- 

 nornis and Palapteryx ; and of an extinct genus, Notornis, allied to the 

 Rallidce ; and the mandibles of a species of Nestor, a genus of nocturu 

 al owl-like parrots, of which only two living species are known.* 



These osseous remains are in a very different state of preservation 

 from any pre\4ously received from New Zealand; they are light and 

 porous, and of a light fawn-color ; the most delicate processes are en 

 tire, and the articulating surfaces smooth and uninjured; fragments of 

 egg-shells, and even tlie bony i-ings of the trachea and air tubes, are pre- 

 served. 



The bones were dug up by Mr. Walter Mantell from a bed of marly 

 sand, containing magnetic iron, crystals of hornblende and augite, and 

 the detritus of augitic rocks and earthy volcanic tuff. This sand had 

 filled up all the cavities and cancelli, but was in no instance consoli- 

 dated or aggregated together; it was, therefore, easily removed by a 

 soft brush, and the bones perfectly cleared without injury. 



The spot whence these precious relics of the colossal birds that once 

 inhabited the islands of New Zealand were obtained, is a flat tract of 

 land, near the embouchure of a river, named Waingongoro, not far from 

 Wanganui, which has its rise in the volcanic regions of Mount Egmont. 

 The natives atfirm that this level tract was one of the places first dwelt 

 upon by their remote ancestors ; and this tradition is corroborated by 

 the existence of numerous heaps and pits of ashes and charred bones, 

 indicating ancient fires, long burning on the same spoL In these fire- 

 heaps Mr. Mantell found burned bones of men, moas, and dogs. 



The fragments of egg-sliells, imbedded in the ossiferous deposits, had 

 escaped the notice of all previous naturalists. They are, unfortunately, 

 very small portions, the lai'gest being only four inches long, but they 

 afford a chord by which to estimate the size of the original. Mr. Man- 

 tell observes that the egg of the Moa must have been so large that a 

 hat would form a good egg-cup for it. These relics evidently belong 

 to two or moi-e species, perhaps genera. In some examples the ex- 



* See Professor Owen's Memoir on these fossil remains, in Zoological TVansat^ 

 tions. 1848 



Vol. 1.— Q 



