ON THE EXTINCT ANIMALS OF THE COLONIES OF GHEAT BHITAIN. 263 
lammergeyer.* I suppose this huge bird of prey may have 
harried and carried off the chickens of the gigantic Moas ; and 
that the extinction of the Harpagornis , as it has been termed 
by its describer, the accomplished naturalist, Dr. Von Haast, 
may have followed as a consequence that of its prey. So grand 
a bird of flight could hardly have escaped the notice of the 
natives with whom Banks and Solander communicated, or of 
such an acute ornithological observer as the monographer of the 
existing avifauna of New Zealand, Mr. Buller, of Wellington. 
It may be that some lingering tradition of the bird led the 
Maori, from whom the first indication of the fossils of New 
Zealand was obtained, to call it “the bone of a great eagle.” 
More than one story of still existing Moas have found their 
way into New Zealand newspapers ; but, like those of the great 
sea-serpent, they lack the data requisite for scientific acceptance. 
In both cases the proper attitude of the naturalist is the “ ex- 
pectant ” one. 
When the first portions of the skeleton were described and 
figured in 1847, upon which the former existence of the great 
flightless coot of New Zealand was affirmed, the Notornis was 
concluded to have passed away as completely as the Dinornis. 
But it fortunately happened that Mr. Walter Man tell, visiting 
the south-west part of the South Island, in 1849, came upon a 
party of seal-fishers who had captured the living bird on the 
shores of Dusky Bay, and had luckily kept the skin after cooking 
and eating the unique specimen. The skull and leg-bones 
brought to London with this served to identify the species and 
genus ; the skin, beak, and feet confirmed the inference from 
the fossils. This specimen of Notornis Mantelli was purchased 
by the British Museum, where it may now be seen, f 
I suppose that any captor who should bring his Dinornis alive 
to London might reckon upon a rich reward from the Council of 
the Zoological Society. 
At present all I have been able to get, besides the bones, have 
been brains, if rings of the wind-pipe, § gizzard stones, || eggs, 
feathers, 1[ and bits of skin,** of unquestionable Moas. But how 
about the brain, it may be asked, unless you had a fresh bird ? 
A very pertinent question. The brain is represented by a cast 
of the interior cranium. It is relatively smaller than that of 
* Op. cit. vol. i. p. 141 ; pis. cy. cvi. cvii. 
t Notornis Mantelli is figured of the natural size as frontispiece to my 
work (4to. 2 vols. 1879), “ On the Extinct Wingless Birds of New Zealand.” 
% Op. cit., p. 326, pi. xci. fig. 11. 
§ lb., p. 327, pis. xcii. xciii. 
|| lb., p. 337, pi. xcii. fig. 8. 
lb., p. 440, pi. cxiv. figs. 8-11. 
** lb., p. 443, pi. lxxi. and pi. cxiy. fig. 7. 
