70 DR. MANTELL ON THE DISCOVERY OF NOTORNIS. 



of the bog. This deposit is about 3 feet in depth and not more than 100 yards in 

 length ; the extent inland is concealed by vegetation and a covering of superficial de- 

 tritus, and is supposed to be very inconsiderable. This bed rests upon a blue tertiary 

 clay that emerges here and there along that part of the coast, and which abounds in 

 shells and corals, of species existing in the adjacent sea. 



This bone deposit was evidently a morass or swamp, on which the New Zealand flax 

 (Phormium tenax) once grew luxuriantly. Bones of the larger species of Moa have from 

 time to time been obtained from this spot by the natives and European visitors ; and, 

 as in the menaccanite sand beds at Waingongoro, they are associated with bones of one 

 species of dog and two species of seal : my son also collected crania and other remains 

 of a species of Apteryx (probably Ap. Australis), Albatros, Penguin, and of some smaller 

 birds whose characters and relations have not yet been ascertained : no bones of the 

 Notornis were observed m this locality. 



It was from this ancient morass that my son obtained the entire series of bones com- 

 posing the pair of feet of the same individual Dinornis robustus, standing erect, the one 

 about a yard in advance of the other, as if the unfortunate bird had sunk in the slough, 

 and unable to extricate itself had perished on the spot. The upper or proximal ends 

 of the tarso-metatarsals were alone visible above the sod on the retiring of the tide ; 

 these were carefully dug round, and the phalanges exposed in their natural order and 

 connection : the bones were numbered as they were extracted from the soil, and thus 

 the normal elements of the locomotive organs of one of the colossal struthious bipeds of 

 New Zealand were for the first time determined'. 



It was in the course of last year, on the occasion of my son's second visit to the south 

 of the Middle Island, that he had the good fortune to secure the recent Notornis which 

 I have now the pleasure of submitting to this Society, having previously placed it in 

 the hands of the eminent ornithologist Mr. Gould to figure and describe, as a tribute of 

 respect for his indefatigable labours in this department of Natural History. 



This bird was taken by some sealers who were pursuing their avocations in Dusky 

 Bay. Perceiving the trail of a large and unknown bird on the snow with which the 

 ground was then covered, they followed the foot-prints till they obtained a sight of the 

 Notornis, which their dogs instantly pursued, and after a long chase caught alive in the 

 gully of a sound behind Resolution Island. It ran with great speed, and upon being 

 captured uttered loud screams, and fought and struggled violently ; it was kept alive 

 three or four days on board the schooner and then killed, and the body roasted and ate 

 by the crew, each partaking of the dainty, which was declared to be delicious. The 

 beak and legs were of a bright red colour. My son secured the skin, together with very 

 fine specimens of the Kakapo or Ground Parrot {Strigops), a pair of Hu'ias (Neomorpha), 



' The principal dimensions of these bones are given in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 

 vol. vi. p. 338 ; and figures with descriptions in ■ The Pictorial Atlas of Organic Remains,' just published. 



