426 
THE AGE OF NEW ZEALAND. 
extent, still possess some remnants of the bird age : of such 
is the tooth-billed pigeon (Didunculus strigerostris ) , the 
nearest living bird allied to the extinct dodo, it is found in 
Upolo, one of the Navigator Islands, and is there known 
as the manu mea, i.e., the moa. 
But it is in New Zealand that the vestiges of the bird age 
abound. The remains of many species of struthious birds are 
there found,, all of which have evidently had a very recent 
existence, some of their remains having still feathers attached 
to them, indeed it is by no means sure that living specimens 
are not yet to be found ; the height of some, and the massive 
forms of others, must have been remarkable. The moa, 
dinornis giganteus, in size and height almost rivalled the 
cameleopard, and probably resembled it in its habits, by 
feeding on the tops of trees, such as the ti dracena, or cab- 
bage palms. The dinornis elephant opus was perhaps a still 
more wonderful bird, which from its massive frame more nearly 
resembled the elephant, and thence acquired its name. 
Ten different kinds of the moa or dinornis have been 
named, and in addition to them may be added the palapterix 
ingens, the P. geranoides, and the aptornis otidiformis. 
New Zealand still possesses at least four living species of 
the apterix, and in addition to them it had, and most pro- 
bably still has, the notornis mantelli, a stuffed specimen of 
which is now in the British Museum. Bones of all these 
birds have been found in the greatest abundance, and their 
charred egg shells in the old Maori ovens clearly prove they 
were contemporaneous with man. The Maories speak of the 
gigantic moa as having been hunted by their fathers, and 
songs of their exploits with it are still preserved ; a solitary 
feather of that gigantic bird, the last-prized relic possessed, 
was said to have been buried with the chief Te B-auparaha. 
The bones of these ancient races of birds are still abundant, 
and the recent state of many of them clearly proves that they 
have lived within the last half century, and long survived 
the dodo. 
Amongst the lizards of New Zealand may be noticed the 
tuatara (Hatteria Punctata ) , which Professor Huxley states 
