9 
length of the femur, while in the Apteryx the tibia is only one- 
third longer than the femur. The larger Struthionide, as the Os- 
trich and Emeu, more nearly resemble the great New Zealand Bird 
in the proportion of their tibia, but it is not quite twice the length 
of the femur in those species. The tibia of the great New Zealand 
Bird differs from that of the Apteryx and all the large Struthionide 
in the complete osseous canal for the passage of an extensor tendon 
in the anterior concavity above the distal condyles. This osseous 
canal is commonly found in the tibia of the Gralle, Galline, Anseres, 
and many smaller birds. The proportion of length to thickness of 
the tibia is nearly the same in the Ostrich and the great New Zea- 
land Bird ; the circumference of the tibia at its proximal end, in the 
latter, is fifteen inches; at its middle, five inches. 
“« The most instructive bone in the present collection is a tarso- 
metatarsal bone, with the distal extremity entire, showing that the 
gigantic bird was tridactyle, like the Emeu, Rhea, and Cassowary. 
The remains of the proximal end of the bone prove it to have been 
articulated with a tibia about an eighth part shorter than the one 
above described, or to a tibia about two feet in length; the length of 
the tarso-metatarsal bone is one foot, or half the length of the tibia, 
which is exactly the proportion which the tarso-metatarsal bone of 
the Apteryx bears to the tibia. In the Emeu the tarso-metatarsal 
bone is as large as the tibia; in the Ostrich it is a little shorter than 
the tibia. The difference in the proportions of the tarso-metatarsal 
bone of the gigantic bird of New Zealand and of the Emeu will be 
obvious from the following dimensions :— 
Dinornis. Dromaius. 
Tarso- metatarsal bone. in: lin: in. lin. 
ST Pe NET ot i [Ae riag 12 0 14 6 
Circumference of middle ...... 4 5 2 8 
Breadth of distal end.......... 3 10 oF TO 
“The comparative shortness and strength of the trifid metatarsal 
of the gigantic New Zealand Bird form its most striking resemblance 
to the Apteryx, to which it thus approximates more closely than to 
any of the large existing Struthionide. 
“The proportions of the leg-bones, their denser texture, especially 
that of the femur, which, as in the Apteryx, contains no air, suffi- 
ciently indicate the generic distinction of the great New Zealand 
Bird from the tridactyle Emeu, Rhea, or Cassowary. The questions 
then arise,—is it likewise generically distinct from the Apterye ? or is 
it a gigantic species of that genus? These questions are determined 
by the tarso-metatarsal bone. The Apteryx is distinguished from 
the other Struthionide not more by its elongated bill than by the 
presence of a fourth small toe on the inner and back part of the foot, 
articulated toa slightly elevated rough surface of the tarso-metatarsal 
about a fourth of the length of that bone from its trifid distal end. 
There is no trace of this articular surface on the tarso-metatarsal of 
the Gigantic Bird, which was consequently tridactyle, as in the Emeu, 
Rhea, and Cassowary. The Dodo was tetradactyle, like the Apteryx; 
