76 Transactions. — Zoology. 



Art, XIII. — On Cnemiornis calcifcraias, Owen, showing its Affinity to the 

 Lamellirostrate Natatores. By James Hectok, M.D., F.R.S. 



Plates X.— XIY.A. 

 [Read before the Wellington Philosojyhical Society, ISth August, 1S73.] 

 Since the discovery of the very interesting specimen of the Moa's neck with 

 well-preserved muscular tissue and integuments in the Earnscleugh cave, in 

 the intei"ior of the Province of Otago,* the locality has been visited several 

 times, and especially last year by the Hon. Captain Eraser, who obtained, 

 besides Moa bones, several belonging to a smaller-sized bird, being part of a 

 skeleton most of which had been previously removed by some gold-diggers. 

 I recognised these to belong to Cnemiornis calcitrans, of Owen, the only 

 difference being that the humerus differed from that described by Professor 

 Owent in several important characters. ;{: Besides the humerus were the right 

 femur and tarso-metatarsus and the metacarpal bones ; the two former agreeing 

 accurately with Professor Owen's description and plates, and the last- 

 mentioned being a new addition to the osteology of the bird. TJie chief 

 difference in the humerus from that attributed to this bird by Professor Owen 

 is its greater propoi'tional size, it being equal in length to the femur, instead 

 of one-ninth less, and in its having a very distinct pneumatic fossa, closed 

 by a cribriform bony septum. In addition, the tuberosity representing the 

 pectoral ridge is not so wide, and the proximal articular surface is slightly 

 broader and more convex at its middle part than in the typical bone. These 

 characters might lead to the surmise that it belonged to a carinate bird, but 

 the massiveness of the bone was thought sufficient to disprove this. In order 

 to determine this point with some degree of accuracy, I compa^^ed the weight 

 with the bulk of the same bone in several species of birds, with the following 

 results : — 



1. Cnemiornis {Earnscleugh cave) 



2. Weka (Ocydromus) (non- volant) 



3. Kakapo (Stringops) (non- volant) 



4. Kaka (Nestor) (volant) 



5. Hawk (Hieracidea) (volant) ... 

 A small portion of the shaft was also removed, and the thickness of the 



bony wall found to be so great that the internal diameter is only two-thirds 

 that of the external. 



In consequence of the above divergence of character from the humerus 

 described by Professor Owen, I was much interested in obtaining the 



* Trans. N.Z. Inst., IV., 111. t Trans. Zool. Soc, V., 399, PI. 66. 



X Trans. N.Z. Inst., V., 406. 



Weight. 



Bulk. 



10 



244 



10 



210 



10 



187 



10 



131 



10 



126 



