Wellington Philosophical Society. 431 
Ninto Meretinc. 25th September, 1872. i 
Dr. Hector, F.R.S., President, in the chair. 
1. “ Notes on Miramar Peninsula, Wellington Harbour,” by J. C. Craw- 
ford, F.G.S. (See Transactions, p. 396.) 
The author exhibited bones of various species of the Moa which have been 
found on the peninsula, and had been presented by him to the Colonial 
Museum. 
The President said that the remains were as follows :— 
(1.) Human.—Skull, pelvis, extremities, Lyall Bay ; thigh bone, Evans 
Bay ; thigh bones, etc., Ludlam Gully. 
(2.) Dinornis, sp. Moas.—Femur (collected by Dr. Hector), Lyall Bay ; 
sacrum and bones of extremities of small-sized species (femur, 6 inches), 
Ludlam Gully ; tibia and other fragments of middle size—had been split and 
cooked (?), Evans Bay ; femur and other fragments of middle size much 
incrusted with swamp deposit, Burnham Water, swamp ; fragments of large 
size, sand deposit round Burnham Water. 
(3.) Cetacean bones, Burnham Water. 
(4.) Footbones of a Calf, Lyall Bay. 
2. “On the Effect of Wind-driven Sand as a Cutting Agent,” by Edwin. 
Stowe, B.A. (See Transactions, p. 105.) 
This paper was illustrated by specimens collected at Waikato Heads, and 
excited some discussion. 
3. “Notes on the Anatomy of the Huia,” by F. J. Knox, L.R.C.S.E. 
These notes were descriptive of beautifully prepared skeletons of both 
male and female of these rare and interesting birds. 
The President pointed out that the great difference in the length of, the 
beaks in the male and female huia is due only to the prolongation of the 
horny mandible of the latter, the jaw bones being the same size in both sexes, 
This is not the case in the kiwi, in which the apparent excess in the length of 
the beak in the female is really produced by the lengthened bones of the face. 
Anatomically the kiwi has the shortest beak of any known bird of its size. 
The strong muscular crests in the skull of the male huia at once distinguishes 
it from that of the female, and supports the view that the male beak is used 
as an adze, and the female as a probe. 
Capt. Hutton remarked that a recent paper read to the Zoological Society 
of London described the anatomy of the huia, and showed that it is allied to 
the starling and crow in its structure, 
4. “On the Reclamation of Land devastated by the Encroachment of 
Sand,” by C. D. Whitcombe. (See Transactions, p. 108.) 
