82 Transactions. —Zoology. 
in the weka (Ocydromus), and bears almost the same proportion as in that bird 
to the length of the humerus, or about two-fifths of the length of that bone. 
I should state that this bone has been found in several instances in 
Canterbury by Dr. Haast associated with fragments of a similar humerus, and 
rightly assigned by him to Cnemiornis. A fragmentary skull, in which the 
basal, posterior, and nasal portions are wanting, and several leg bones, in the 
Colonial Museum—some found by Mr. W. D. Murison, in Otago, and others - 
from the Wairarapa, in Wellington—must also be referred to this species, 
and prove that it was widely dispersed over both Islands of New Zealand. 
As the leg bones of Cnemiornis are not infrequent in collections, especially 
from the most recent turbary and cave deposits, this bird must have been 
of common occurrence, and the foregoing details afford conclusive evidence 
that it was a gigantic bird, probably allied to and of similar habits to the 
Cape Barren Goose of Australia (Cereopsis*), but in which the power of 
flight had become obsolete. | 
From the size of its pelvis, ribs, and sternum, the bulk of its body must 
have greatly exceeded in proportion any of its existing congeners, while its 
lower extremities were not less remarkable for their massive development. 
The height of its back above the ground exceeded 2 feet, and the length of the 
body from the beak to the tail was at least 32 inches. 
TABLE OF ADMEASUREMENTS, IN INCHES. 
Skull. Weight, 535 grains DOE lower jw) 
"Length ` 
45 
Breadth across paroccipitals ie 2-0 
^ tals ... 2:0 
5 ,» temporal fos 1:5 
a We he of snes mandible 15 
tip 1:0 
Length from. — to presphenoid 2:1 
” palat 1-4 
sg ol prenait ry 15 
trom point of external nostril to end of pre maxillary 1:0 
of nasal aper 0:8 
Width of nasal apert 0-4 
of internasal septum—anterio 0-4 
Supra-occipital tuberosity to erg suture, following tl the 
curve 2:6 
Supra-occipital tuberosity “sha external basilar proces To 
Length of vertieal basilar 0:3 
E n | кузна ч "as SS СЕ 0:5 
Width of s М UM vs ia 13 
* Having procured a skeleton of this species for comparison, through the киш 
of Professor M‘Coy, I am able to confirm this surmise. Among the chief stru 
differences, I notice the presence in Cnemiornis of an extra pre-sacral vertebra, so that 
two, instead of three, ribs articulate with the sacrum, and an elevated pent-roof 
arrangement of the ossa innominata, which indicate more decided cursorial habits. 
