﻿Hector, — On, Recent Moa Remains. 119 



tlie progress of the fugitives in this dii'ection. From what we know of the 

 habits of birds akin to the Moa. we may faii-Iy infer that they did not frequent 

 heavily-timbered coiintry, but roamed over the grass covered plains and 

 mountain slopes. This view is supported by the comparative rarity of moa 

 remains in forests, the few exceptions being easily accounted for. 



The whole of the eastern district of the South Island of New Zealand back 

 to the Southern Alps, was completely surveyed and mapped as early as 1862, 

 and had been thoroughly explored at least ten years before that date, without 

 any of these gigantic birds being met with ; but there is a large area of rugged 

 mountainous country, especially in the south-west district of Otago, that even 

 to the present time is only imperfectly known. The mountain sides in this 

 region are covered with open fagus forest, in which Kiwis, Kakapos, and other 

 expiring forms of apterous birds, are still to be found in comparative abundance, 

 but where we could scarcely expect to meet with the larger species. Never- 

 theless, owing to the peculiar configuration of this country, the mountains 

 afford very extensive areas, above the forest limit, which are covered with 

 alpine shrubs and grasses, where it is not impossible that a remnant of this 

 giant race may have remained to very recent times. The exploration, however, 

 to which the country has been subjected during the last few years, by parties 

 of diggers prospecting for gold, forbids the hope that any still exist. I may 

 here mention that on one of the flat-topped mountains, near Jackson's Bay, 

 which I visited in Janiiary, 1863, I observed, at an altitude of 4,000 feet, 

 numerous well-beaten tracks, about sixteen inches wide, intersecting the dense 

 scrub in all directions, and which, owing to the height of the scrub, could only 

 have been formed in the first instance by the frequent passage of a much 

 larger bird than either the Kiwi or Kakapo, which, judging from the droppings, 

 wei-e the only birds that now resorted to them. On the sides of the tracks, 

 especially near the upper confines of the forest, are shallow excavations, two 

 or three feet in diameter, that have much the apjDearance of having been 

 scraped for nests. Ko pigs or any other introduced animal having penetrated 

 to this part of the country, it appears manifest that these are the tracks of 

 some large indigenous animal, but, from the nature of the vegetation, it is 

 probable that such tracks may have been for a very long period in disuse, 

 except by the smaller ground birds, without becoming obliterated. 



The above facts and arguments in suj^port of the view that the Moa survived 

 to very recent times are similar to those advanced, at a very early f)eriod after 

 the settlement of the colony, by Walter Mantell, who had the advantage of 

 direct information on the subject from a generation of natives that has passed 

 away. As the first explorer of the artificial moa beds, his opinion is entitled 

 to great weight. Similar conclusions were also drawn by Buller, who is per- 

 sonally familiar with the facts described in the North Island, in an article 



