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1. Notice of the discovery by Mr. Walter Mantell in the 
Middle Island of New Zealand, of a living specimen 
of the Notornis, a bird of the Rail family, allied to 
Brachypteryx, and hitherto unknown to NATURALISTS * j r i - 
EXCEPT IN A FOSSIL STATE. Ry GlDEON ALGERNON MAN- 
tell, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S. etc. 
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Amongst the fossil bones of birds collected by my eldest son in the 
North Island of New Zealand, which I had the honour of placing 
before the Zoological Society in 1848, in illustration of Professor 
Owen’s description of the crania and mandibles of Dinornis, Pal- 
apteryx, &c., there were the skull, beaks, humerus, sternum, and 
other parts of the skeleton of a large bird of the Rail family, which 
from their peculiar characters were referred by that eminent anato¬ 
mist to a distinct genus of IlallidcE allied to the Brachypteryx, undci 
the name of Notornis * ; a prevision, the correctness ot which is con¬ 
firmed by the recent specimen that forms the subject of the present 
communication. 
Towards the close of last year I received from Mr. Walter Man¬ 
tell another extensive and highly interesting collection of fossils, 
minerals, and rock specimens, obtained during his journey along the 
eastern coast of the Middle Island, from Banks’ Peninsula to the 
south of Otago, in the capacity of Government Commissioner for the 
settlement of native claims. This series comprised also a fine suite 
of birds’ bones from Waingongoro, the locality whence the former 
collection was chiefly obtained, and among them were relics ot the 
Notornis, and crania and mandibles of Palapteryx. . 
The results of rnv son’s observations on the geological phenomena 
presented by the eastern coast of the Middle Island are embodied in 
a paper read before the Geological Society in February last, and pub¬ 
lished in vol. v. of the ‘Quarterly Journal.’ It will suffice for my 
present purpose to mention that they confirm in every essential par¬ 
ticular the account given of the position and age of the ornithic ossi¬ 
ferous deposits, in my first memoir on this subject f. „ 
The only fact that relates to the present notice is the nature o 
the 1 bone-bed at Waikonaiti, whence Mr. Percy Earl, Dr. Mackellar, 
and other naturalists procured the first relics of the gigantic birds 
sent by those gentlemen to England, which are figured and descn be 
“ This solfedtrtia” d'poS’ is situated in a little bay south of 
Island Point near the Jmbouchure of the river Waikona.tr, and .s 
* Zoological Transactions, vol. iii. p. 366. + Geological Journal, vol. iv. 
No. CCXIV.— Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 
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