166 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



fossil bones, which were obtained from North Island, found 

 in a bed of sand called the " Waingongora Bone-bed." In 

 1850, another collection of about five hundred specimens of 

 fossil bones were sent home by Mr Walter Mantell, two 

 hundred of which were from the same locality as the former, 

 whilst the remainder were obtained from Waikouaiti, on the 

 eastern coast of the Middle Island. This latter bone-bed is 

 covered by a layer of sand, and appears to have been an ancient 

 swamp or moss, in which the New Zealand flax (Pliormium 

 tenax) once flourished. A pair of perfect tarso-metatarsal 

 bones were found standing erect in this bed, with all the toe- 

 bones attached, which are now known to form part of the 

 skeleton of the species that has received the name of " Dinor- 

 nis robustus." 



From the fragments of ornithic fossil bones transmitted at 

 various times from New Zealand, Professor Owen has suc- 

 ceeded in establishing thirteen species of extinct birds, differ- 

 ing in size from the great Bustard to that of the Ostrich, and 

 even much larger. These species have been referred to two 

 distinct genera, the Dinornis proper, in which there is no im- 

 pression for a hind toe on the tarso-metatarsal bones ; and to 

 the genus Palapteryx, in which the impression for the fourth 

 toe has a similar position in the tarso-metatarsal bones as in 

 the existing Apteryx. The general anatomical characters as- 

 signed by Professor Owen to the skull in this peculiar family 

 of birds are " a broad and low supraoccipital region, sloping 

 from below upwards ; a flat parietal surface continued directly 

 forwards into a broad downward sloping frontal region ; wide 

 and deep temporal fossae, small orbital cavities, and large 

 olfactory chambers ; the vertical plane of the foramen mag- 

 num, with the single occipital condyle projecting directly 

 backwards. No c existing bird,' he says, ' presents this 

 peculiarity, which somewhat resembles that of Chelonian rep- 

 tiles.' " 



The large bones, which I shall now briefly describe, are 

 nine in number, consisting of the greater portion of a cranium, 

 one cervical, one dorsal, and nine anchylosed sacral vertebrae, 

 a part of a rib, an ungual and a corresponding penultimate 

 phalanx, a large elongated bone, which I assume to be a 



