MOAS. 



573 



ordinarily numerous in species, as they were also in individuals; such a 

 marvellous exuberance of gigantic bird-life being unknown elsewhere on the face 

 of the globe in such a small area. As regards size, the largest moas could have 

 been but little short of 12 feet in height, the tibia being considerably over a yard 

 in length ; while the smallest were not larger than a turkey. And in reference to 

 their numbers, it may be mentioned that there are some twenty species, arranged 

 in about six genera; and the surface of many parts of the country, as well 

 as bogs and swamps, literally swarmed with their bones. Some of the 

 moas had four toes to the foot, and others 

 but three, all differed from the kiwis in 

 having a bony bridge over the groove for 

 the extensor tendons of the tibia (as shown 

 in the accompanying figure), and are there- 

 fore evidently the least specialised members 

 of the subclass we have yet referred to, 

 seeing that this bridge is present in the 

 majority of the Carinate birds, and has 

 thus been lost in the existing Ratites. 

 While agreeing in some parts of their organ- 

 isation with the kiwis, .the moas are distin- 

 guished by the short beaks, and the presence 

 of after-shafts to the feathers; and in the 

 larger forms, at any rate, not only was the 

 wing, but likewise the whole shoulder-girdle 

 wanting. There is, however, reason to 

 believe that some of the pigmy moas which 

 from their size were evidently the most 

 generalised members of the group retained 

 some of the bones connected with the wing. 

 The moas were represented by several very 

 distinct structural modifications ; the largest 

 being the long - legged or true moas 

 (Dinornis), characterised by their long and 

 comparatively slender leg -bones, as shown 



on p. 295 of the preceding volume, and also by their large and depressed skulls. 

 In marked contrast to these were the short -legged or elephant -footed moas 

 (Pachyornis), in which the limb-bones, as shown in the accompanying figure, were 

 remarkable for their short and massive form ; the metatarsus being most especially 

 noteworthy in this respect. In these birds the skull was vaulted and the beak 

 narrow and sharp : but in the somewhat smaller and less stoutly-limbed broad-billed 

 moas (Emeus) it was broad, blunt, and rounded. The other species, in all of which 

 the beak was sharp and narrow, are of relatively small stature, and include 

 the smallest representatives of the family, some of which were less than a 

 yard in height. The eggs of the moas were of a pale green colour, and probably 

 formed a favourite food of the Maories, by whom these birds were evidently 

 exterminated. 



RIGHT TIBIA AND METATARSUS OP SHORT- 

 LEGGED MOA (J nat. size). 



