150 
Harpagornis exceeds the Golden Eagle and our native Harrier Hawk more in the 
length and strength of its legs than of its wings. The anatomical characters of femur, 
tibia, and especially of metatarsus and ungual phalanges, bespeak a strength and 
vigour of grasp well-matched, as it would seem, to the bulk of the terrestrial birds 
on which it preyed. And in regard to these, which the first indication of a leg-bone 
suggested to be less fleet in movement than the Emu or Ostrich, a corresponding 
power of wing would be less essential to the predatory Buzzard or Falcon of the 
Moas than his faculty of holding and mastering them when caught. 
Nevertheless it would be rash to infer an inferiority of power of flight, size for size, 
in the Harpagornis over the Eagle, from the minor inequality of length of humerus as 
compared with that of femur. ‘The proportions, especially of length, of the chief wing- 
bones in the Humming-Birds, for example, fall short of those in many birds of much 
inferior powers of flight. The wing, for excellency in its main function, requires also 
length and strength of primaries, with proportions of those quill-feathers resulting in the 
elongate and pointed form of wing, such as characterizes Swifts and Humming-Birds. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 
PLATE CV. 
Figs. 1-4. Pelvis of Harpagornis mooret. Figs. 5-7. Pelvis of Circus pygargus. 
PLATE CVI. 
Figs. 1-6. Humerus of Harpagornis moorei. 
Figs. 7-12. Humerus of Circus pygargus. 
PLATE CVII. 
Figs. 1-4. Femur of Harpagornis moorei. Figs. 5, 6. Tibia of Harpagornis mooret. 
Fig. 7. Side view of ungual phalanx of back toe (¢) of Harpagornis moorei. 
Fig. 8. Side view of ungual phalanx of Aquila cuneicaudata. 
Figs. 9, 10. Femur of Circus pygargqus. Figs. 11, 12. Tibia of Circus pygargus. 
Fig. 13. Phalanx of back toe of Circus gouldi. 

9 
College ;” and it was purchased, after the publication of my Memoir, by B, Bright, Esq., of Bristol. It has 
since been presented, with the rest of the “ Bright Collection,” to the Trustees of the British Museum by 
Benj. Bright, Esq., the grandson of the founder. 

