206 



CELA OWENI (HAAST). 



Dinornis oweni Haast, Trans. Zool Soc. XII, p. 171, pi. XXXI, XXXII (1886). 

 Cela curtus Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst., XXIV, p. 127 (1892), portion. 



DR. VON HAAST (Sir Julius von Haast) took as his type of Dinornis 

 oweni the almost complete skeleton collected by Mr. Cheeseman in 

 a cave at Patana, Whangarei, and now in the Auckland Museum. While 

 referring my readers to the original diagnosis for the specific characters, I 

 wish to specially draw attention to the fact that Dr. von Haast says that 

 in the collections he examined, made by Mr. Thorne and Mr. Cheeseman, 

 there are bones belonging to at least 20 skeletons of his D. oweni, and that 

 some were even smaller than the type, and the only difference was the 

 constant average difference due to sex. I draw special notice to this, as 

 Captain Hutton has united this form with curtus, saying Haast's type is 

 only a small individual of that species. The fact of bones of at least 20 

 different individuals, showing the same characters and the same differences 

 from curtus, is quite sufficient evidence for me to consider Dr. von Haast's 

 D. oweni as a distinct species. I append measurements of the leg bones of 

 the types of Cela curtus and C. oweni : — 





Tarso-metatarsus. 



Tibio-tarsus. 



Femur. 



Cela curtus 



5*0 inches 



11-25 inches 



5 65 inches 



Cela oweni .... 



44 „ 



96 „ 



65 „ 



Locality : Whangarei. 



Habitat : North Island, New Zealand. 



CELA GERANOIDES (owenj. 



Palapteryx geranoides Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. Ill, p. 345 (1848) 

 Cela geranoides Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 126 (1892). 



THIS species is confined to the North Island. The type came from 

 Waingongoro. It is most commonly found in the South of the Island. 

 Habitat : North Island, New Zealand. 



