NOTORNIS MANTELLI, Owen . 
Notornis. 
Notornis Mantelli, Owen in Trans, of Zool. Soc., vol. iii. p. 377. — Mantell in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1850— Gould 
in lb., 1850. 
The acquisition of a new species is always a matter of great interest; but when, as in the present instance, it 
is of one so nearly extinct as to be only known to us previously by its fossil or semi-fossilized remains, the 
interest becomes enhanced in the highest degree ; it is well known that the existence of the celebrated 
Dodo is all but traditionary, a fate which, but for Mr. Walter Mantell’s fortunate acquisition of a living 
example, would probably have been shared by the present bird, the characters of which were first made 
known to us by Professor Owen from the semi-fossilized remains previously obtained and sent home by the 
same talented explorer after whom it is named. 
That few living examples remain, is evident from the fact that the mounted specimen in Dr. Mantell’s 
possession is the only one that has yet been seen ; all the information respecting it that has been obtained 
is comprised in the following interesting account communicated by him to the Zoological Society of London, 
and published in their “Proceedings” for 1850 : — 
“This bird was taken by some sealers who were pursuing their avocations in Dusky Bay. Perceiving 
the trail of a large and unknown bird on the snow with which the ground was then covered, they followed 
the foot-prints till they obtained a sight of the Notornis, which their dogs instantly pursued, and after a 
long chase caught alive in the gully of a sound behind Resolution Island. It ran with great speed, and 
upon being captured uttered loud screams, and fought and struggled violently; it was kept alive three or 
four days on board the schooner and then killed, and the body roasted and ate by the crew, each partaking 
of the dainty, which was declared to be delicious. My son fortunately secured the skin. 
“Mr. Walter Mantell states, that, according to the native traditions, a large Rail was contemporary with 
the Moa, and formed a principal article of food among their ancestors. It was known to the North 
Islanders by the name of ‘ Moho,’ and to the South Islanders by that of ‘ Takahe ’ ; but the bird was con- 
sidered by both natives and Europeans to have been long since exterminated by the wild cats and dogs, 
not an individual having been seen or heard of since the arrival of the English colonists. That intelligent 
observer, the Rev. Richard Taylor, who has so long resided in the islands, had never heard of a bird of this 
kind having been seen. In his ‘Leaf from the Natural History of New Zealand,’ under the head of ‘ Moho ,’ 
is the following note : ‘ Rail, colour black, said to be a wingless bird as large as a fowl, with red beak 
and legs ; it is nearly exterminated by the cat : its cry was ‘ keo, keo.’ ’ The inaccuracy and vagueness 
of this description prove it to be from native report and not from actual observation. To the natives of 
the pahs or villages on the homeward route, and at Wellington, the bird was a perfect novelty and excited 
much interest. I may add, that upon comparing the bead of the bird with the fossil cranium and man- 
dibles, and the figures and descriptions in the ‘ Zoological Transactions,’ my son was at once convinced 
of their identity ; and so delighted was he by the discovery of a living example of one of the supposed 
extinct contemporaries of the Moa, that he immediately wrote to me, and mentioned that the skull and 
beaks were alike in the recent and fossil specimens, and that the abbreviated and feeble development of the 
wings, both in their bones and plumage, were in perfect accordance with the indications afforded by 
the fossil humerus and sternum found by him at Waingongoro, and now in the British Museum, as pointed 
out by Professor Owen in the memoir above referred to. 
“ In concluding this brief narrative of the discovery of a living example of a genus of birds once con- 
temporary with the colossal Moa, and hitherto only known by its fossil remains, I beg to remark, that this 
highly interesting fact tends to confirm the conclusions expressed in my communications to the Geological 
Society, namely, that the Dmornis, Palapteryx, and related forms, were coeval with some of the existing 
species of birds peculiar to New Zealand, and that their final extinction took place at no very distant 
period, and long after the advent of the aboriginal Maoris.” 
Upon a cursory view of this bird it might be mistaken for a gigantic kind of Porphyrio, but on an exami- 
nation of its structure it will be found to be generically distinct. It is allied to Porphyrio in the form of 
its bill and in its general colouring, and to Tribonyx in the structure of its feet, while in the feebleness of 
its wings and the structure of its tail it differs from both. 
From personal observation of the habits of Tribonyx and Porphyrio, I may venture to affirm that the 
habits and economy of the present bird more closely resemble those of the former than those of the 
latter; that it is doubtless of a recluse and extremely shy disposition; that being deprived, by the feeble 
