110 Mr. H. Seeley on some new Genera of Fossil Birds. 



bird was raptorial or natatorial. It bears evidences of having 

 been eaten. 



Macrornis tanaupus, Seeley. 



Proximal end of right tibia of a large Struthious bird from 

 Hordwell. It is as large as the Emu, but is further removed 

 from the Emu than the Ostrich, in the struthious direction. 

 Both pairs of sides are subparallel. The patelloid prominence 

 arises from a narrower base than in the great Struthionidse, 

 and is produced into a considerable process on the inner side of 

 the leg. There is an inflation at the back of the proximal end. 

 The shaft is compressed, and the fibula-ridge is sharp. The 

 points in which it is unlike known struthious birds are those 

 which characterize some genera of waders and gallinaceous 

 birds. 



Megalornis, Seeley. 



Lithornis emuianus, Bowerbank, Ann. Nat. Hist. 



_ Cast of original specimen in the British Museum ; and distal 

 end of a right tibia exactly corresponding to it, from the London 

 Clay of Eastchurch, in the Isle of Sheppey. Taking the Ostrich 

 as a type, this bird diverges from the typical Struthionidse on 

 the other side of the Emu, yet appears to conform to the Casua- 

 rine allies. The shaft is set on to the extreme back of the 

 trochlear end, and is more robust than in the Emu. Also its 

 posterior side is more rounded, and the inner side more angular. 



CRETACEOUS BIRDS. 



Mr. Lucas Barrett, in 1858, discovered bones in the Upper 

 Greensand which he recognized as those of a bird allied to the 

 Natatores. They are described, in Sir C. Lyell's Supplement to 

 the fifth edition of the 'Elements,' as rather larger than those of 

 a common pigeon. And Prof. Owen, in the second edition of 

 the ' Palaeontology,' speaks of a trifid tarsus showing the outer 

 toe-joint much higher up than the other two. Of neither of 

 these are there any examples at Cambridge. But we have col- 

 lected or seen a number of cervical, caudal, and dorsal vertebrae, 

 proximal and distal ends of tarsal bones, proximal ends of tibiae, 

 proximal and distal ends of femora, humeri, metacarpal bones, 

 &c., which demonstrate the existence of a very distinct genus of 

 birds in the Cambridge Greensand, of which I have named the 

 typical species Pelagomis Barretti. 



Descriptions of these new genera will appear in the ' Cata- 

 logue of Fossil Vertebrata in the Woodwardiau Museum.' 



