MEMOIR 
ON THE 
BONES OF THE LEG OF 
DINORNIS STRUTHIOIDES 
AND 
DINORNIS GRACILIS. 2 
IN the Memoir on the genus Dinornis, I described (pp. 85-90) two femora of birds 
from tertiary deposits in New Zealand, agreeing in size with that bone in the Ostrich, 
and referred them toa species called Dinornis struthioides ; one of these specimens how- 
ever consisted only of the shaft; the other and more perfect specimen, figured in 
Pl. XXI. fig. 3, was mutilated at both its extremities. I have since received, through 
the kindness of the Rev. Mr. Colenso, M.A.', and the Rev. William Cotton, M.A., 
three entire specimens of femora, ranging between 11 and 12 inches in length, and the 
shaft of a fourth femur of the Din. struthioides, confirming very satisfactorily that 
species, and completing our knowledge of the anatomical characters of the bone. 
The head (Pl. LIV. fig. 2) is rather more than a hemisphere, more prominent 
than in the Ostrich, and with a smaller proportion cut off, as it were, from the upper 
and outer part, and roughened for the attachment of the strong ‘ ligamentum rotundum.’ 
From the upper part of the base of the head, an almost flat, slightly concave, surface 
ascends, expanding, as it rises, to the broad semicircular ridge which crowns the great 
trochanter. In the Ostrich that process does not rise above the level of the head of 
the bone. In the Din. struthioides the upper trochanterian platform is broader pro- 
portionally than in the Din. casuarinus*. The anterior surface of the trochanter is 
also extensive through the continuation outwards of the great process: it is slightly 
* The specimen contributed by this gentleman is cited in the table of admeasurements, p. 137. 
> Pl, XXXVIII, fig. 2. 
3M 
