480 MR. R. LYDEKKER ON A NEW MOA. [NoV. 3, 



have their ridges and extremities abraded, apparently indicating that 

 they have lain exposed for a long period to the action of the weather 

 on the surface of the ground. Unfortunately, there is no record of 

 the locality where the specimens were obtained. There are, indeed, 

 other bones in the collection belonging to the typical species of the 

 genus Pachyornis, which is known only from the South Island, but 

 since they are in a different mineralogical condition, and evidently 

 from another locality, no inference can be drawn from them as to 

 the present specimens. As there are many specimens in the British 

 Museum from the North Island (and none from the South) in the 

 same condition as the latter, it appears probable that these specimens 

 may be also from the North Island. 



The proportions of the tibio-tarsus and tarso-metatarsus show 

 that the affinities of this Moa are with the genera Anomalopteryx, 

 Emeus, and Pachyornis, and that it is quite distinct from Di7iornis, 

 in which the tarso-metatarsus is long and slender, and the tibio- 

 tarsus is long and straight. The tibio-tarsus (Plate XXXVIII. 

 figs. 2, 2 a) has a length of 22 inches and a distal width of 2*9 

 inches. These dimensions are alone sufficient to distinguish this 

 specimen from the corresponding bone of all the species of Anoma- 

 lopteryx and Emeus. Thus in Emeus erassus, which is the largest 

 representative of either of those genera, the tibio-tarsus has a length 

 of 20'4 inches and a distal width of 3"3 inches. The present tibio- 

 tarsus is, however, at once distinguished from the corresponding 

 bone of all the species of both those genera (with the exception of 

 the small Anomalopteryx [?] geranoides, which probably indicates a 

 distinct genus) by the outward curvature of the shaft and the 

 marked inflection of its distal extremity. 



In these respects the tibio-tarsus before us resembles the corre- 

 sponding bone of the type species of the genus Pachyornis, from 

 which it is, however, readily distinguished by its more slender 

 proportions. Thus in the typical P. elephantopus the tibio-tarsus 

 has a length of 24 inches, with a distal width of 4*2 inches ; while 

 in an unnamed form ^ which not improbably indicates a distinct 

 species the two dimensions are 20 inches and 3*5 inches. These 

 measurements indicate conclusively that the present tibio-tarsus (in 

 which, as I have said, these dimensions are 22 inches and 2*9 inches) 

 cannot be referred either to P. elephantopus or to the unnamed 

 species. A comparison of the individual specimens would render 

 this still more apparent, the present tibio-tarsus being a slender 

 bone recalling the straight tibio-tarsus of Dinorw^,, while the 

 corresponding bone of these species of Pachyornis is^ /jlarkable for 

 its extremely stout and robust proportions. ■^%" 



We now come to the question whether the Moa represented by 

 this slender type of inflected tibio-tarsus can be included in the 

 genus Pachyornis ; but before deciding this we must examine the 

 other bones. 



Firstly, with regard to the tarso-metatarsus, which is represented 

 in Plate XXXVIII. fig. 3. Unfortunately the extremities of this 

 1 Cat. Foss. Birds Erit. Mus. p. 318. 



