4'44_^ Zoological Society. 



exception of the Owenii and scalpellum, from which it is separated 

 by its greater convexity and its distinctive colouring. 



Mr. Hanley also describes a new species of Mya of Linn?eus and 

 Lamarck : — 



Mya semistriata. Mya testa ovato-oblongd, subcequiluterali, ventri- 

 cosd, postice rotundatd, antice subtruncatd et attenuutd, candidd, 

 tenui, pellucidd, longitudinaliter striatd ; striis tenuibus, confertis, 

 antice elevatis ; ared postlcd striarum experte, transversim rugosd ; 

 dente cardinali obliquo. 



Long, f poll. ; lat. 1 poll. 



Hab. ? Mus. Metcalfe. 



A single valve, in the cabinet of W. Metcalfe, Esq., is the sole 

 specimen of this elegant and distinct shell I have ever beheld, and 

 forms a welcome addition to a genus possessing so few species as 

 that of Mya. Its distinct radiating striae occupying all but the pos- 

 terior surface (which is roughened by concentric sublamellar wrin- 

 kles), prevent the possibility of its being confounded with any other 

 species, except the cancellata of Conrad. But the coarse transverse 

 wrinkles which cover the entire surface of that shell are totally 

 wanting in ours, whilst its radiating striae are few, indistinct, and by 

 no means its prominent characteristic. 



The anterior attenuation is caused by the sloping upwards of the 

 ventral edge. The tooth closely resembles that of arenaria, but is 

 more oblique. 



January 24. — William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Professor Owen exhibited various bones, being the remains of a 

 gigantic Struthious Bird (Dlnornis NovcB-Zealandia, Owen) which 

 has become extinct in the North Island of New Zealand, and pro- 

 ceeded to read his notes relating to them. 



" Since the communication to the Zoological Society, Jan. 10th, 

 1843, of the letter of the Rev. Mr. Cotton, relative to the remains 

 of the gigantic bird of New Zealand which had been collected in 

 the North Island by the Rev. Wm. Williams, one of the boxes of 

 these remains, transmitted by that gentleman to Prof. Buckland, has 

 been received, and the specimens have been kindly placed in my 

 hands for description. 



" An entire femur, somewhat larger than that of which the shaft 

 is described and figured in the Society's Transactions, proves the 

 specific identity of the present remains with the fragment, upon which 

 I ventured to affirm, three years ago*, that a large Struthious Bird 

 'of a heavier and more sluggish species than the Ostrich' had re- 

 cently become extinct, if it were not still living, in New Zealand, 



" The femur has very nearly the same proportions of thickness to 

 length as in the Ostrich, but the shaft is less compressed ; it conse- 

 quently differs from that of the Apteryx in being shorter in propor- 

 tion to its thickness ; but it resembles the femur of the Apterj'x, and 



* The memoir was communicated to the Zoological Societv November 

 12th, 1839, vol. iii. p. 32. pi. 3. 



