235 
by Mr. W. Mantell, in the Middle Island. Both were covered by drifted sand from 
three to seven feet in thickness. Some of the bones have been scorched by fire. 
From the sum of our present information respecting the localities of the several 
species of Dinornithide, we may infer that most, if not all, of the species of the North 
Island were distinct from those of the South Island. 
To birds that could neither fly, nor, probably, swim well or far, the channel called 
Cook’s Straits would prove an effectual bar to any migration from one island to 
another. With each successive addition of materials for the history of this most 
remarkable family of birds, I feel, nevertheless, impressed with the conviction of how 
little comparatively we still know respecting them, and how much more is likely, 
through the enlightened cooperation of active, resolute, and accomplished explorers, such 
as Mr. Walter Mantell, to be, hereafter, contributed towards a complete history of the 
New Zealand wingless birds. 
