216 Essays. 



race of strutliious, brevi-pennate birds, embracing several distinct genera, 

 and varying in size from that of a turkey to a stature far surpassing the' 

 tallest ostricb ! Tbese giant birds — the remnant, probably, of numerous 

 tribes tbat originally roamed over a wide continent, now submerged — hemmed 

 within the narrow limits of modern New Zealand, gradually diminished in 

 niimbers, till at length the race was finally annihilated, probably through 

 human agency. Their skeletons, however, are still to be found embedded 

 and preserved in the swamps and other alluvial deposits, or in the caves and 

 sand-hiUs, of both North and South Islands ; and the vast collections of 

 these bones that have been transmitted to Europe have not only " excited 

 the delight of the natural philosopher and the astonishment of the multi- 

 tude," but have enabled Professor Owen to establish the characters of the 

 principal genera and to determine many of the species.* 



It would exceed the limits of the present sketch to attempt any compre- 

 hensive account of these extraordinary fossil birds, and we shall therefore 

 only refer in the briefest way to the genera, as established by the learned 

 professor, in order to trace the connection between the ancient and recent 

 avifauna. 



The most remarkable of these extinct forms, for their stupendous size 

 and anomalous character, are comprehended in the genus Dinornis, and they 

 belong to a type quite unknown either in a recent or fossil state in any other 

 part of the world. The genus Palapteryx — the members of which attained 

 a height of eight or ten feet, and in their osteological structure present some 

 affinity to the Dromams, or emu — is well typified by the existing species of 

 Apteryx, while the Brachypterya;, or giant short- winged rail, iinds its true 

 type in the recent Notornis mantelli. The Aptornis (of whichj only one 

 species has been determined) bears no relation whatever to any existing 

 genus in New Zealand. It appears to have been a cursorial bird, presenting, 

 in the structure of its feet, some resemblance to the celebrated dodo. On 

 the other hand, a fossil parrot discovered by Mr. Mantell at Waingongoro 

 (North Island), presents a close affinity to our living genus Nestor. 



To pass on at once to the existing fauna, we may notice as peculiarities 

 of New Zealand ornithology, the genus Apteryx (kiwi), a group of wingless 

 birds, closely related to some of the extinct forms, and as anomalous in their 



* Mr. Mantell was the first scientific explorer of the Waikouaiti and Waingongoro bone 

 deposits. Possessed of great ability as a palasontologist, and exploring under favourable 

 circumstances, he sxicceeded in forming a magnificent collection of these fossil remains, 

 which he forwarded to England and ultimately deposited in the British Museum. It was 

 chiefly from the results of Mr. Mantell's researches that Professor Owen was enabled to 

 determine the following genera and species : — Dinornis giganteus, D. rolustus, D. crassus, 

 D. elephantopus, D. strutMoides, D. casuarinus, D. rheides, D. didiformis, D. curius, D. 

 gracilis, Falaj)teryx ingens, P. geranoides, Aptornis otidiformis. 



