CASUARIID.E. DINORNITHID.B. 



Casnarius bennetti, Gould. 



Casuarius bennetti, J. E. Gray, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 271, Ave*, pi. cxliv. ; 

 Bartlett, P. Z. S. 1800, p. 205, Aves, pi. elxii. ; Gould, Handb. Birds 

 Austr. ii. p. 561 (1865) ; Schalow, J. f. O. 1894, p. 20 ; Salvation, 

 Cat. Birds B. M. xxvii. p. 601 (1895) ; Sharpe, Hand-l. i. p. 4 

 (1899). 



The shell of the eggs of Bennett's Cassowary is of a pale buff or 

 grey colour. The raised lines and granulations on the shell vary 

 in tint. In one example they are of a pale dull greenish ; in 

 another they are extremely coarse, prominent, and of a greenish- 

 brown colour. In two others the lines are very feebly developed 

 and they are pale greenish-buff. Four eggs measure respectively : 

 5-55 by 3-5 ; 5-05 by 3-4 ; 5'75 by 3-55 ; 5-4 by 3-55. 



2. New Britain (Stevens). 



1. New Britain (G. Bennett). 



1. New Britain. 



Old Collection. 

 Salvin-Godman Coll. 

 Admiral A. H. Hoekins [P.]. 



Order D I N O RN ITH I F O RM ES. 



Family DINORNITHID^E. 



Genus DINORNIS, Owen. 



Dinornis, Lydekker, Cat. Fossil Birds B. M. pp. 222, 349 (1891) ; Sharpe, 

 Hand-l. i. p. 4 (1899). 



The eggs of the extinct Moas of New Zealand are found in caves 

 and in the burial-places of the Maoris. The specimens contained 

 in the National Collection * are imperfect, but the fragments of 

 three have been restored in plaster, the contour of each being 

 determined by the curvature of the fractured pieces. As thus re- 

 stored, the eggs are nearly perfect ellipses, and three specimens 

 measure respectively : 7*25 by 6 ; 7'75 by 5-25 ; 8*1 by 5*9. 



The shell is strong, being about one-twelfth of an inch in thick- 

 ness. In colour the existing remains are of a pale grey. Owen 

 thus describes the shell : " The shell in Dinornis is not only 

 absolutely thinner, but relatively much thinner than in the Ostrich, 

 and, a fortiori, than in the j&pyornit. The air-pores also have a 

 different form, being linear, not rounded ; and the external surface 

 is smoother. In the smoothness and thinness of the shell, the egg 

 of Dinornis resembles that of Apteryx." 



* These are exhibited in the Geological Galleries. 



