Prof. Hitchcock on Ichnolithology, or Fossil Footmarks. 313 



latitude. I quote his account from the 23d number of the Quar- 

 terly Review, p. 27. 



" They were built upon the ground, from which they rose above 

 two feet, and were of vast circumference and great interior ca- 

 pacity ; the trunks of trees and other matter of which each nest 

 was composed being enough to fill a cart." 



Now I see no more reason for doubting this than any other fact 

 related by these voyagers. I take it we may regard them as true, 

 and no exaggeration. Equally certain is it, that we know of no 

 other bird, except the Dinornis, that could have required so enor- 

 mous a nest. But for that bird it would not be larger than would 

 be necessary and convenient, as any one may see by drawing a 

 nest of that size and an apterous bird ten feet high by the side of 

 it. It was built too upon the ground, where an apterous bird 

 would build. Is it not probable therefore, that this was the nest 

 of the Dinornis ; and if so, that this bird still survives in New 

 Holland, if not in New Zealand ? The north island of New Zea- 

 land is some 5° farther south than King George's Bay, and nearly 

 30° farther south than Eagle Island. In the warmer climate of 

 New Holland therefore, this bird may be yet alive, although ex- 

 tinct in New Zealand. But I understand that there is no decisive 

 proof that it does not still Uve in New Zealand. Mr. Owen does 

 indeed express the opinion that it has been extinct perhaps two 

 centuries. Yet some English sailors declare that they have seen 

 it, and the missionaries do not attempt to decide the point. Capt. 

 Cook's voyage was performed about the year 1770, and Capt. 

 Flinders' in ISOl. I do not yet despair therefore, of having the 

 zoological cabinets favored with something more than the bones of 

 the Dinornis ; and possibly the menageries may stand some chance 

 of getting this bird alive. If he be indeed still alive, we may 

 expect, as Mr. Williams, the missionary who sent the bones to Dr. 

 Buckland, facetiously remarks, that there will be a crusade got up 

 among the naturalists to go and take him. When he reaches this 

 country, I shall propose that he be taken to the banks of the Con- 

 necticut, to see if he can follow the footsteps of his great progeni- 

 tor of sandstone fame. 



The impressions of rain-drops, connected with the footmarks, 

 deserve notice because they have so important a bearing upon our 

 reasoning as to the circumstances under which the tracks were 



