THE NOTOHNIS. 
265 
a long chase. The Notornis ran with great speedy and 
when taken screamed loudly^ and made considerable resist- 
ance. The sealers took the specimen and kept it alive for 
three or four days, when they killed it and found the flesh 
to be delicious. Mr. Mantell secured the skin : the beak 
and legs were of a bright red. Dr. Mantell, in his commu- 
nication to the Zoological Society (November, 1850), says 
that his son informed him that, according to the tradition, 
this rail formerly abounded in New Zealand, and formed 
a principal food of the natives. It was contemporaneous 
with the Moa. Dr. Mantell well observes that the dis- 
covery of a living specimen of this bird is of the highest 
interest alike to the ornithologist and the palaeontologist j 
for it was previously only known by its fossil remains, and 
would probably, like the Dodo of the Mauritius, have soon 
become wholly traditional.''^ This unique specimen is now 
in the British Museum. The neck and body are of a dark 
purple colour, the back and wings being shot with green 
and gold; the tail is scanty and white beneath. 
To the Rail family belongs the Aramus scolojoaceus, called 
in Jamaica "Clucking hen, from its voice resembling that 
of a wandering hen.''^ This bird seems to feed chiefly 
on snails and slugs, and occasionally also on snakes and 
