THE THIRD NOTORNIS. 
WENT TO GERMAN MUSEUM. 
By J. Drummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S. 
Dr A. B. Meyer, who was director of 
the Dresden Museum when it received the 
skin and skeleton of the third Notornis 44 
years ago, states that the New Zealand 
Government made no effort to buy the 
specimen while it was in Dunedin, before 
it was sent to London, but, after a patron 
had presented it to the Dresden Museum, 
*he New Zealand Government wrote to 
Dr Meyer asking him to surrender the 
specimen. The Government offered the 
sum paid in London (£110), and, in addi¬ 
tion, a collection of skins of native New 
Zealand birds,. “ Of course, I refused 
the offer/' Dr Meyer states; “ in any case, 
the rules of the museum would not allow 
me to accept it." 
In scientific journals Dr Meyer de¬ 
scribed the specimen in scientific terms. 
Up lo that time the rare bird was known 
as Notornis mantelli, a name Sir Richard 
Owen ha ( ] given to an extinct North 
Island bird represented by a fossil skull. 
It was believed that this and the three 
living individuals then known belonged 
to the same species. Finding that the 
specimen m his hands was different in 
important points from the fossil, Dr 
Meyer gave his specimen, and the other 
two specimens of the living bird, the title 
Notornis hochstetteri. By doing this he 
dedicated this large, handsome, massive 
rail to Dr Ferdinand von Hochstetter, 
who, 74 years ago, came to New Zealand 
in the Austrian exploring frigate Novara, 
and who helped to straighten out the 
early classification of New Zealand s 
birds. 
Mr W. Mantell, who missed having his 
name associated with a species that almost 
ranks in interest with the dodo and the 
great auk, was an enthusiastic naturalist 
in the pioneering days of this Dominion. 
He was particularly interested in moa 
bones. Eighty-five years ago he gathered 
moa oones in a bed of volcanic ashes at 
VVamgongoro, North Island, and sent 
them to Sir Richard Owen. Amongst 
them Sir Richard Owen found parts of 
the skull of a bird.about the same size as 
■P Turkey• The back of the head was 
broad and sloping, somewhat like a moa’s 
head, but there were differences that led 
him to make extensive comparisons with 
moa bones. These brought him to the 
iamijy of the coots and water-hens. There 
e tound the largest number of similari¬ 
ties with the fossil skull. Although the 
evidence on which he worked was incom¬ 
plete and scanty, his anatomical training 
and his remarkably accurate observations 
convinced him that there had lived in 
i ew Zealand a bird that might be called 
the giant of the coots, but resembling the 
l± k V nch - is rr. rail - He named the 
Ar f .^otorms. The species he named 
MantelJi, m honour of the discoverer of 
the fossil skull. 
Mr Mantell's name remains in associa¬ 
tion with an extinct bird; Dr Hochstet- 
ter's name is linked with the livin'* 
Notornis. The word “ living ” is applied 
here to the four live individuals of 
Notornis that have been caught. It may 
have a wider application, as it is reason¬ 
able to believe that, in the wild, unfre¬ 
quented country of the Southern Sounds, 
irom which all living individuals have 
come, there are more members of the 
species. For the fourth and latest indivi¬ 
dual, caught by Messrs D. and J. Ross 
at Lake Te Anau 34 years ago. and placed 
in the Otago Museum, the Government 
paid the discoverer £250. Since then the 
law has altered the conditions. If there 
are any living individuals of the Notornis 
they belong to the Government, not to any 
persons who find them. Anybody who 
handles one, or interferes with it, is 
liable to be fined. 
The egg of the Notornis is unknown. 
The eggs also belong to the Government. 
When, or if, an egg is found it, as a 
curio, will be in the same class as the egg 
of the great auk. A Notornis egg prob¬ 
ably will prove to be about two" inches 
and a-half long, richly coloured in greys 
• and browns dotted and blotched with grey 
and brownish violet. The great auk's egg 
is about four inches long, dirty white, 
scrawled or blotched with pale grey, drab, 
or brown. Although a comparatively few 
years ago the great auk existed in large 
numbers, it is absolutely extinct. Its last 
stronghold was rocky islands and skerries 
in Iceland. The last authentic record of 
it was on June 3, 1844. Flightless, it 
spent much timejn the water, and nested 
on remote islands in the North Atlantic. 
Slaughter of the great auk was con¬ 
ducted mainly for food. Later, 
fishermen used it for bait. Its fat 
and its feathers became 'an at¬ 
traction. Collectors put in the 
finishing blow. While there are only four 
skins and no eggs of the Notornis, there 
are about 81 skins of the great auk, 10 
skeletons, about 130 birds represented by 
detached bones, and 70 eggs. Values of 
the great auk’s skin and eggs have in¬ 
creased many fold, reaching fabulous sums. 
An authenticated egg ot the Notornis 
would be priceless. It could not serve 
anybody's cupidity. To dispose of it to a 
purchaser would be difficult, as any per¬ 
son in possession of it, even if possession 
was secured by purchase, would be outside 
of the law. 
Mr Mantell, who discovered the fossil 
skull of an extinct Notornis, obtained the 
first Notornis skin. Eighty-three years 
ago sealers in Duck Cove, Resolution 
Sound, Southern Sounds, saw in the snow 
the trail of a large, unknown bird. Fol¬ 
lowing the trail, they caught the bird 
alive in a gully. As it ran with great speed, 
the chase was a long one. When caught 
it screamed loudly and fought and 
struggled violently. It was kept alive 
on a schooner for several days, and then 
killed. The body was roasted and eaten, 
members of the crew declaring that the 
flesh was delicious. That, probably, was 
the most valuable meal in New Zealand. 
The scalers refrained from eating the 
feathers. The whole skin was secured 
by Mr Mantell. He also obtained the 
second Notornis skin, belonging to a bird 
