Zoological Society. 61 



The length of the ti1)ia and metatarsus of the Din. dromceoides not 

 yet being known, the height of five feet was assigned to it as a pro- 

 bable one ; its femur corresponds in size with that of the Emeu, 

 whose average measurement in captivity is between five and six feet. 



The height of the Din. didifonnis was four feet; exceeding, there- 

 fore, the extinct Dodo (Didus inepitis), but evidently resembling it 

 in its stouter proportions and shorter metatarsus, as compared with 

 the other species of Dinornis. 



Prof. Owen next proceeded to consider the evidences of tridactyle 

 birds afforded by the impressions in the New Red Sandstone of Con- 

 necticut, called ' Ornithichnites,' and having pointed out the propor- 

 tions of the tarso-metatarsal bone in existing Struthious birds to 

 their foot-prints, indicated thereby the size of the same bone in dif- 

 ferent Ornithichnites, and reciprocally the sizes of the foot-prints of 

 the different Dinornithes, from those of their tarso-metatarsal bones. 



The two phalanges of the Dinornis, which were described and 

 compared in this section of the memoir, afforded pretty clear indi- 

 cations of the form and proportions of the toes in the two species 

 (giganteus and didiformis) to which they were referred. These data 

 showed that the trifid foot-print of the Dinornis giganteus must have 

 exceeded in size the Ornithichnites giganteus and O. ingens of Prof. 

 Hitchcock, and that the Din. didiformis must have left impressions 

 as large as those called Ornithichnites tuberosus. The author warned 

 his hearers against inferring identity of species or even genus between 

 the extinct StruthionidcB of the alluvium of New Zealand and those 

 of the trias of North America, on account of correspondence of size 

 and number of toes, which the modern genera Casuarius, Rhea, &c. 

 proved to be insufficient grounds. He concluded by a comparative 

 review of recent and extinct Struthionida:, remarking on their peculiar 

 geographical distribution, on the conditions which favoured the for- 

 mer existence of so rich a development of the family in New Zealand, 

 and on the probable causes of their extermination. Evidence of the 

 recent character of the bones described was afforded by the great 

 proportion of animal matter which they retained, and the details of 

 the analysis of the earthy salts were promised for a future Meeting. 



December 12. — William Yarrell, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 

 Mr. Gould laid before the Meeting an extensive series of Tou- 

 cans, and called attention to two species which had not hitherto 

 been characterized, viz.: — 



Ramphastos citreol^mus. Ramp, rostra nigra, vittd latd basali, 



et culmine oUvaceo-viridibus, hoc colore gradatim cumflavido apud 



apicem mandibulce utriusque se commiscente ; ptilose nigra ; guld 



alba ; pectore sulphureo, vittd splendide caccined cincto ; tectrici- 



bus caudcB superioribus sulphureis. 



Bill black, with a very broad basal band, and the culmen of an 



olive-green, passing into pale yellow on the points of both mandibles, 



and deepening into orange at the gape ; the ridge round the base of 



the biU black ; crown of the head, back of the neck, all the upper 



surface, wings, tail, breast, abdomen and thighs deep black ; throat 



