294 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
sides of the holes, accidentally fell into them, and perished. The 
extinction of this interesting bird in this district appears to have 
been assisted by the Maoris, who hunted it for its flesh. From 
the dry floor of a cave we dug numerous bones of birds, including 
Kakapo, Kaka, Weka, Pukeko, Kiwi, and Moa, with “ cutting- 
stones” from the stomach of the latter; but the bones were all 
(excepting the Moa’s) in a crumbling state. The bill on one Kiwi 
skull, probably Megalapteryx, measured 8} inches. They lay nearly 
all in onecorner of the cave, as if thrown there promiscuously. 
Many of them appeared to have been broken when thrown there. 
I likewise found scraps of burned bones near old camping grounds 
of the Moa hunters, but I never could discover the kitchen 
middens. 
At the meeting above-mentioned Mr. G. M. Thomson raised the 
question, ‘‘ What did the Moa feed upon?” The question is one 
of the highest importance in the history of the Moa, and there ex- 
ists considerable difference of opinion among scientists in dealing 
with the subject. The late Dr. von Hochstetter, writing on the 
Dinornis before New Zealand was inhabited by man, remarks, 
—‘‘ We must assume that at that time the large Dinornis and 
Apterye species, whose bones we find to-day, lived in great num- 
bers upon open fern-iand, subsisting on the roots of Pteris esculenta.” 
But this could not apply to the numerous family of Moas, as their 
remains have been found in many places where the Pieris esculenta 
never existed. Thesame author continues :—‘‘ Dr. Haast observes 
that the present Alpine flora furnished a large quantity of nutritious 
food quite capable of sustaining the life even of so large a creature, 
and as the fruits of those plants seem at present to serve no evident 
purpose in the economy ot nature, he argued the former existence 
of an adequate amount ot animal life to prevent an excessive de- 
velopment of vegetation. This part was played by the Dinornis.” 
This again cannot fully be accepted ; for to compare the number 
of species or quantity of bones found in the Alps with those collec- 
ted in swamps, caves, and open lands in the lower country, they 
will be found to be only about one-tenth of the whole number. 
Moreover it could only be during certain months of the year that 
the birds could reach it or find subsistence there. It is more 
probable that during the summer months individuals fed up the 
mountain sides to considerable elevations, and during late autumn 
were overtaken by dense mists or sudden snowstorms, and perished 
before they were able to descend to the plains. A traveller in the 
Alps will not observe any ‘excessive development” in the 
vegetation; while in some Alpine districts the flora, like some of 
the fauna in the lower lands, is rapidly disappearing, being sup- 
planted by other forms. Although bones and gizzard stones have 
been found in the Alps, there is little doubt that the Moa fed chiefly on 
on downs, plains, around forests, and especially on marshy lands, 
wheretheirremains are always found morenumerous than elsewhere. 
Their occurrence in large quantities in the kitchen midden at the 
mouth of the Rakaia River, one of the furthest points from the 
Canterbury Alps, where formerly extensive marshes stretched 
along the sea coast, would indicate that the moa existed there in 
great numbers. The leg bones of several having been found in a 
vertical position, suggests that the birds were at times mired in 
the swamps. 
