Order GBALLE.] [Fam. KALLID^E. 



NOTOBNIS MANTELLL 



(MANTELL'S NOTORNIS.) 



Notomis mantelli, Owen, Tr. Zool. Soc. iii. p. 377, pi. lvi. figs. 7-13 (1848). 



Native names. 

 Moho, Takahe, and Tokohea. 



Ad. suprk viridis : pileo et collo undique cum corpore subtus toto nigricantibus, ultramarino nitentibus . tectri- 

 cibus alarum cyanescentibus viridi lavatis : remigibus nigris, primariis extiis cteruleo marginatis, secun- 

 dariis intimis dorso concoloribus : cauda, supra, viridi dorso concolori : subcaudalibus albis : rosrro lrete 

 rubro, versus apicem flavicante : pedibus pallide rubris : iride rubra. 



Adult male. Head and throat bluisb black, passing into dark purplish blue on the hind neck ; the whole 

 of the back, rump, upper tail-coverts, lesser wing-coverts, and scapulars dull olive-green, tipped 

 more or less with verditer green, and of a darker shade towards the shoulders ; fore neck, breast, 

 sides of the body, and flanks beautiful purplish blue; a band of the same colour, half an inch 

 wide, separates the dark blue of the nape from the olive-green of the upper surface ; thighs, abdomen, 

 and vent bluish black ; under tail-coverts white ; wing-feathers rich deep blue on their outer webs, 

 dusky brown margined with blue on their inner ; the greater coverts with broad terminal margins of 

 verditer-green, forming crescentic bands in the expanded wings ; tail-feathers dark olive-green, with 

 brown shafts, dark brown on their under surface. The plumage of the back and rump is soft and thick, 

 and on being disturbed is found to be dull greyish brown towards the base. Irides red ; frontal plate 

 and bill bright red, yellowish towards the tips of both mandibles ; tarsi and toes lighter red ; claws 

 horn-brown. Total length 24 inches ; wing, from flexure, 9'75 ; tail 4 - 5 ; from posterior edge of 

 frontal plate to tip of upper mandible 3 "25 ; from gape of the mouth, along the edge of lower 

 mandible, 2; tarsus 3'25 ; middle toe and claw 3"75 ; hind toe and claw \7. 



Female. A second specimen in the British Museum, which is supposed to be a female, is somewhat smaller 

 than the above in all its dimensions, has the colours generally duller, and the olive-green of the upper 

 parts shaded with brown. 



The name of Walter Mantell will ever be associated with the palaeontology of the Postpliocene and 

 Pleistocene deposits of New Zealand, as is that of his illustrious father (the late Dr. Mantell) with 

 the palaeontology of the Wealden formation of the south-east of England. Mr. Mantell was the first 

 scientific explorer of the Moa beds of Waikouaiti and Waingongoro, and he succeeded in forming 

 some magnificent collections of fossil remains, which were forwarded to England and ultimately d 

 posited in the British Museum. The value to science of these discoveries is amply demonstrated 

 in Professor Owen's elaborate ' Memoirs ' on Dinornis and its allies, read before the Zoological 

 Society from time to time, and published in the ' Transactions.' Not only has Mr. Mantell con- 

 tributed largely to our knowledge of the geology and palaeontology of the country ; but he has 



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