SUB-FOSSIL REMAINS FROM KING ISLAND. 
The following table is instructive as affording a good idea of 
the general size of the femur : — 
Length. 
ISO and over. 
170-180. 
170-160. 
160-1 60. 
160-140. 
Loss 140. 
Number of specimens 
2 
13 
20 
19 
c 
4 
Of the two longest, one measures 186, the other 180, but 
as will he seen, the great majority lie between 150-180. The 
collection evidently includes bones of birds of different ages, as the 
smallest ones (not included in the table) only measure 110 mm. 
Almost everyone of those included in the table would, however, if 
found separately, he regarded as the bone of a well-developed 
bird. How far differences in size are sexual as well as age 
characteristics it is impossible to say, but when questioned by the 
French naturalists, Cowper, the fisherman, said that though the 
male was the larger the difference in size was not considerable. 
He also said that the bird reached maturity in one year. We 
may probably regard the two larger ones as decidedly above the 
average size of a mature bird, the femur of which would be more 
nearly 170 than 180 mm. So far as the structure of the bone is 
concerned, there is no difference save size between it and the 
corresponding bone of D. nnvee- h ollandice . 
2. Tibio-tarsus. 
(Plate 3. Figures 1-10.) 
The whole collection includes 75 examples of this bone. The 
41 that are included in the table of measurements vary greatly 
in length. In the original description the greatest length was 
given as 332. Out of the limited number then collected only 
two exceeded 320. In the large collection now available there 
are only four of this size, and they measure respectively 363 mm.* 
(?), 354 mrn., 332 mm., and 328 mm. The general results of 
the measurements is given in the following table: — 
Length- 
Above 350 
350-340 
340-330 
330-320 
320-310 
310-300 
300-290 
290-280 
280-270 
270-260 
Number of speci- 
mens 
2 
0 
1 
1 
4 
G 
3 
12 
10 
2 
It will be noted that two out of the series exceed by 23 mm. 
and 14 mm. respectively the length of the specimen of D. peroni 
in the Paris Museum. The number of specimens of the latter 
species that have been preserved is unfortunately so small that it 
is impossible to judge of the amount of variation in the size of the 
* This is slightly broken. 
[11 ] 
