| NOTORNIS MANTELLI, Owen. 
Notornis. 
Notornts Mantelh, Owen in Trans. of Zool, Soe., vol, tii, p. 377.—Mantell in Proc. of Zool, Soc., 1850—Gould 
in Ib., 1850, ? 
Tue acquisition of a new species is always a matter of great interest; but when, as in the present instance, it 
is of one so nearly extinct as to be only known to us previously hy its fossil or semi-fossilized remains, the 
interest becomes enhanced in the highest degree; it is well known that the existence of the celebrated 
Dodo is all but traditionary, a fate which, but for Mr. Walter Mantell’s fortunate acquisition of a living 
example, would probably have been shared by the present bird, the characters of which were first made 
known to us by Professor Owen from the semi-fossilized remains previously obtained and sent home by the 
same talented explorer after whom it is named. 
That few living examples remain, is evident from the fact that the mounted specimen in Dr. Mantell’s 
possession is the only one that has yet been seen; all the information respecting it that has been obtained 
is comprised in the following interesting account communicated by him to the Zoological Society of London, 
and published in their ‘* Proceedings” for 1850 :— 
“This bird was taken by some sealers who were pursuing their avocations in Dusky Bay. Perceiving 
the trail of a large and anknown bird on the snow with which the ground was then covered, they followed 
the foot-prints till they obtained a sight of the Notornis, which their dogs instantly pursued, and after a 
long chase caught alive in the gully of a sound behind Resolution Island, It ran with great speed, and 
upon heing captured uttered loud screams, and fought and struggled violently; it was kept alive three or 
four days on board the schooner and then killed, and the body roasted and ate by the crew, each partaking 
of the dainty, which was declared to be delicious. My son fortunately secured the skin. 
«Mr. Walter Mantell states, that, according to the native traditions, a large Rail was contemporary with 
the Moa, and formed a principal article of food among their ancestors. It was known to the North 
Islanders by the name of ‘ Modo,’ and to the South Islanders by that of ‘ Takahé’ ; but the bird was con- 
sidered by both natives and Europeans to have been long since exterminated by the wild cats and dogs, 
not an individual having been seen or heard of since the arrival of the English colonists. That intelligent 
observer, the Rey. Richard Taylor, who has so long resided in the islands, had never heard of a bird of this 
kind having been seen. In his ‘ Leaf from the Natural History of New Zealand,’ under the head of ‘Moho,’ 
is the following note: ‘Ratz, colour black, said to be a wingless bird as large: as a fowl, with red beak 
and legs; it is nearly exterminated by the cat: its ery was ‘keo, keo.’’ The inaccuracy aud vagueness: 
of this description prove it to be from native report aud not from actual observation. To the natives of 
the pals or villages on the homeward route, and at Wellington, the bird oo a periect novelty and excited 
much interest. I may add, that upon comparing the head of the bird with the fossil cranium and man- 
dibles, and the figures and descriptions in the * Zoological 'T ransactions,’ my son was at once convinced 
of their identity; and so delighted was he by the discovery of a living example of one of the supposed 
extinet contemporaries of the Moa, that he immediately wrote to me, and mentioned that the skull and 
beaks were alike in the recent and fossil specimens, and that the abbreviated and feeble wa of the 
wings, both in their bones and plumage, were perfect accordance with the ey A Bion by 
he fanatl humerus and sternum found by him at Waingongoro, and now in the British Museum, as pointed 
: - Mol] , “7 to. 
out by Professor Owen in the memorr above referred 
I i i iV ‘covery of a living example of a genus of birds once con- 
‘In concluding this brief narrative of the discovery of a living exam] g 
temporary with the colossal Moa, and hitherto ouly known by its fossil remains, | beg to remark, that this 
mr 4? H “0 ss i P 
* ay. 5 * a - * * ‘ “i 1 a 
highly interesting fact tends to confirm the conclusions expre ssed in my communications to the Geological 
ha | hen > ps 
Society, namely, that the Dimornes, 
4 . v . r, . 
species of birds peculiar to New Zealand 
borg Opes 
? é Jaoris. 
é » advent of the aboriginal Maorts 
eriod, and long after the ac Saale A, Sta pele, Os A eT i oe 
: t might be mistaken for a eigantic kind of Porphyro, but on an exat 
Palapteryx, and related forms, were coeval with some of the existing 
and that their final extinction took place at uo very distant 
4 
Upon a cursory view of this bird 1 ES east ihe 
‘ ' its st cture it will be found to be generically distinct, It is allied to Porphyrro in the form of 
nation of its structur rT 
its bill and in its general colourmg 
its wings and the structure of its ta 
he ' -e of its feet, while in the feebleness of 
_ and to Zrebonya m the structure of it " 
‘Lit differs from both. | 
habits of Ziridonyx and Porphyrio, 1 may venture to affirm that the 
oP « » 
ne 7 eis " sOrVve j of the . ff 
Brea YS pinata toe resemble those of the former than those of the 
: Wd . . closely 
Sue economy of the present bird more iS . 
habits and economy of the ] ficesandl extremely shy disposition that being deprived, by the feeble 
use ¢ xt “v8 
latter ; that it is doubtless of a rec 
