COLOSSAL BIRDS OF NEW ZEAXAND. xi 



PHALANGEAL BONES. 



Inner Toe. Middle Tue. Outer Toe. 



(Kg. L) (Fig. 2.) (Fig. 3.) 



Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines. 



First, or proximal phalanx 0"Stli . ... . 4 9 4 3 3 2 



' '^ ' ^ Lircumference of proximal end . b G G 9 o 9 



Tf ^ ' ( Circumference of proximal end . 3 5 3 4 9 



TMrd phalangeal bone. . {^™S'\- ■,■■■,; ' li? nl ~~ 1 r ] °r 



'^ ' ICircumlerence 01 proximal end . ^(4 Oj 4 G i G 



^ ° ' ■ I Circumference of proximal end . . . .1(4 3j 4 



Fifth ungueal bone . . .{J^^Sth " 2 6 



° \ Circumference ot proximal end 3 9 



The total length of the toes is as follows: — inner digit, 9i inch. ; middle, ]l|inch.; outer, 9^ inch. 'ITie 

 transverse diameter of the expanse of the foot, from the distal extremity of the inner toe (fig. 1"), to that of the 

 outer one (fig. 3"), is 15| inches. The length from the posterior part of the trochlear extremity of the metatarsal 

 to the distal end of the ungueal of the middle toe (fig. 2°), is 13 inches. If to the actual dimensions of the bones be 

 added the proportional thickness of the cartilaginous integuments, nails, &c., the length of the foot of the living 

 bird may be estimated at about 16 inches, and the breadth at 17 or 18 inches. 



From the great width and solidity of the metatarsals, and the form and corresponding size and strength of the 

 phalangeals and ungueals, the ornithologist will perceive that the feet of the Moa must have constituted powerful 

 instruments for scratching, digging, and uprooting the sub-terrestrial vegetable substances, which Professor Owen, 

 with great probability, infers, formed the chief sustenance of the extinct colossal birds of New Zealand. 



According to the relative proportions of the bones composing the hinder extremities of the gigantic species 

 of Moa, the corresponding tibia, or leg-bone, of the feet above described, would be two feet nine inches in length, 

 and the femur, or thigh bone, nine and a half inches ; the total height of the bird was probably about ten feet. 



Tibiae, femora, and other bones of much larger proportions, (apparently of Dinornis giganleiis and D. ingens,) 

 were obtained from the same locality ; some of these indicate birds of eleven or twelve feet iu height ; 

 dimensions exceeding by one-third those of the largest known existing species of StruthionidEe — the Ostrich.' 



Referring the reader to the additional account of the fossil birds of New Zealand given in a subsequent part 

 of this volume (see Supplementary Notes, p. 173), I will conclude this notice with a few general remarks. From the 

 numerous facts relating to the fossil remains of birds from our Antipodean colony, that have now been brought 

 under the consideration of the naturalists and geologists of this country, we may safely conclude, that at a period 

 geologically recent, but of immense antiquity in relation to the human inhabitants of those Islands, New Zealand 

 was densely peopled by tribes of colossal struthious bipeds, of species and genera that have long since become 

 extinct. I believe that ages ere the advent of the Maori tribes, the Moa and its kindred were the chief 



' Even from this imperfect description (and further anatomical details would be irrelevant in the present work), the ornithologist cannot 

 fail to observe the peculiar characters exliibited by tliese extremities of the remarkable family of birds, of whicli the diminutive Apteryx appears 

 to be the only living representative. But the Apteryx differs most essentially in the structure of the cranium and mandibles, from the e.\tinct 

 types to which Professor Owen has given the names of Dinornis, Palapteryx, Aptornis, &c. 



With regard to the construction of the feet it may be further remarked, that the length of the inner and outer toes is nearly equal, as in 

 the Cassowary ; but the middle toe, which in the Cassowary is one-tliird longer tlian the other digits, in the Moa scarcely exceeds in length 

 by one-fifth, the inner and outer toes. The ungueal segments are very large, being equal to one-third the length of the toes. The phalangeals 

 are relatively much shorter than in the Cassowary and Ostrich, and wider than iu the former, and more arched than in either of these living 

 struthious birds. 



In the metatarsal the presence of the three elements whose fusion constitutes the bone, is strongly marked ; there does not appear to hv 

 any certain indications of a posterior or hind toe, though Professor Owen imagines he has detected feeble traces of a fourth digit : in that 

 case the bird to which my specimens belonged, would be termed Palapteryx. The crania found by Mr. Walter Mantell at Waiugongoro, .and 

 figured and described by Pi'ofessor Owen in the Zoological Transactions (Vol. III., Plates 52, 53, 54, 55), as Dinornis and Palapteryx, 

 must have belonged to birds of comparatively small stature. The skuU with the adze-like upper mandible, and the enormously-developed 

 basi-occij}Uals and basi-sjiJwnoids {Dinornis, of Professor Owen, Plate 53), was found associated with many vertebrre of the neck and back, 

 and bones of the leg, of the same bird ; and these my son states indicated a height of from six to seven feet. The skull and the rest of the 

 skeleton were found imbedded iu sand, and lying in their natural relative position ; unfortunately, all these precious remains, except the 

 cranium, were destroyed by a sudden rush of the natives to seize upon the exhumed relics ! It therefore yet remains to discover the cranial 

 type that characterized the colossal forms at present known only by other parts of the skeleton. 



