INTKODTIOTION. 



63 



ehirur<jus). These Birds, as jost said, have a saperficial resem- 

 blance to Moor-hens and Coots, some forms of which need 

 further mention here, as was before indicated*. Tor the 

 Moor-hen of the island of Tristan d'Acunha and that Coot-like 

 Bird the Notornis of New Zealand have (like the Penguins) no 

 power of flight and have probably lost it. The Weka Eail of 

 New Zealand {Ocydromus australis) is in the same case or nearly 

 so, and is most easily caught. Various species of flightless 



Fig. 65. 



Maiitell's Kotomis (Notornis mantelli). 



Birds have thus of late become extinct, like the Great Auk 

 before noticed f. Thus Mantell's Notornis {Notornis mantelli) 

 has become entirely extinct in the Northern Island of New 

 Zealand, and is nearly extinct altogether. 



Numerous species of gigantic Birds called "M.oas" (^Dinornis) 

 have also been found in New Zealand, and were destroyed by 

 the Maories. They were also flightless, and were of huge 



See above, p. 19. 



t See above, p. 22. 



