Chapter IV: Part 4

Leiden Museum: [male] [female], from the Prince of Wied.

American Museum, New York: 7, three of which formerly belonged to
George N. Lawrence.

Long Island Historical Society, Brooklyn: 1 [male] ad.

Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. York: 1 [male] ad.

New York State Museum, Albany: [male] [female] ad.

Cory collection: [male] [female] ad.

University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont: 1 [male] ad.

Philadelphia: 2 [male] jun., 1 [female]

U.S. National Museum, Washington: 2 [male], 1 [female], 1 [male] jun.

Collection of Mr. William Brewster: 1 [male] jun., 1 [female]

Boston Society of Natural History: 1 [male] jun.

Collection of Dalhousie College, Halifax: [male] [female]

This makes a total of 48 known specimens. {107}

The last specimens killed were those shot in May, 1871, at Grand Manan Island, the date of which is absolutely certain, and the specimen bought from a Mr. J. G. Bell in 1879, for the Smithsonian Institution, which is said to have been shot in 1875, but this date seems not quite certain (Cf. Auk, 1894, p. 9). That several other specimens were shot later than 1852 is perfectly certain. As the specimen of 1875, or thereabouts, is a young male, Mr. Lawrence's question about the old birds is certainly justified. As, however, no Labrador Duck has been recorded later than 1871 or 1875 we may suppose that it is now extinct.

My young male was bought in the Fulton Market, New York, about 1860, and probably came from Long Island. It was mounted by John Bell, a bird-stuffer, through whose hands several Labrador Ducks have gone, and is in the finest possible condition. I bought this bird from the late Gordon Plummer, shortly before his death. He died at his home in Brookline, Mass., in November, 1893. (Cf. Auk, 1891, p. 206.)

My adult male is the one of which the history is given in Auk, 1894, p. 176. It is described there in detail and then added: "Shot in the bay of Laprairie this spring (1862) by a habitant, and purchased by Mr. Thompson of this city, who has kindly placed it at my disposal for examination." Mr. William Dutcher of New York City bought this specimen from the widow of the Mr. Thompson, mentioned in the above note as the original owner, and I purchased it from Mr. William Dutcher, who informs me that "the Bay of Laprairie" is simply a name given to a wide part of the River St. Lawrence, just south of Montreal, Quebec. The name is found on good maps of Quebec.

{109}

"BIZIURA LAUTOURI" FORBES.

_Biziura lautouri_ Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 188 (1892--nomen
nudum).

Dr. Forbes, unfortunately, gives no description whatever of this bird. It would be interesting to know something about it, and especially if its powers of flight were impaired, as it seems to have been the case in so many extinct birds.

{111}

ARDEA MEGACEPHALA MILNE-EDWARDS.

_Butors Leguat_, Relation du Voyage (1708).

_Ardea megacephala_ Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (5) XIX, 1874, p. 10.

Leguat's description, here translated, is as follows:--"We had Bitterns as big and as fat as capons. They are tamer and more easily caught than the 'gelinotes.'" He also says, "The lizards often serve as prey for the birds, especially for the Bitterns. When we shook them down from the branches with a pole, these birds ran up and gobbled them down in front of us, in spite of all we could do to prevent them; and even if we only pretended to do so they came in the same manner and always followed us about."

Milne-Edwards remarks, among other notes, that "This bird is not a true Bittern, but its head is so large and its feet so short that it is easy to understand that Leguat should have called it so."

The bony structure of the head is remarkable on account of its massive and thick proportions; the skull itself is strongly enlarged posteriorly, and the temporal fossae are bordered by very pronounced ridges, especially those on the occipital region. The upper side of the skull is hardly convex, and the interorbital region is large, but only slightly depressed along its middle line. The bill is stout, almost straight, a good deal enlarged at its base and rounded beneath. The nostrils are large and preceded by a large groove, which extends very far towards the tip.

It is impossible to confound this skull with that of any Bittern, the latter having the beak relatively slender and only barely exceeding the skull in length. These also have the skull much constricted at the temporal region. The fossil skull from Rodriguez therefore presents characters essentially those of a Heron, but differs from all known species in its massive appearance. In the Grey, Purple and Goliath Herons, as well as in the Egrettes, the head is narrower, more elongated, the bill less conical and less strong. In _Ardea atricollis_, now inhabiting Madagascar, the beak much resembles that of our extinct species, but it is longer and less enlarged at the base. The interorbital area is much wider, while on the other hand the hinder portion of the skull is narrower and more elongated, which gives to the skull a totally different aspect.

The feet relatively to the head are extremely short, and from this I conclude that we know no species of Heron which can be compared to that of Rodriguez. Nevertheless, the tarso-metatarsus presents all the characters {112} of _Ardea_, and is far removed from that of _Botaurus_. The tibia is big and short; it surpasses in length the tarso-metatarsus by about a third, as is usual in the Herons; but the femur on the contrary is strongly developed, being quite as large as in the _Ardea cinerea_; which shows us that the body of this creature was of large size, and that the reduction in size of the feet had only taken place at their extremities.

The sternum is puny and small as compared with the creature's size. It is clearly that of a bird not furnished with powerful wings, and is even much less elongated than in the Bittern, but the coracoidal bones are very long and slender. The wings also were short and feeble, the humerus being hardly as big as in _Butorides atricapilla_. It is conspicuously slenderer and shorter than in the Bittern. The main body of the bone is slightly curved on the outside, and the lower articular condyle is large and flattened. I have not been able to examine any bone of the "manus," but the metacarpal bone shows exactly the same proportions for the wing as does the humerus, as it also barely reaches the size of that of _Butorides atricapilla_. The measurements are as follows:--

_Skull._

Total length 154 mm.
Length of upper mandible 94 "
Width of upper mandible at base 22 "
Width of interorbital region 22 "
Space between the mastoid apophyses 40 "
Width of skull at level of postorbital apophyses 40 "
Length of lower mandible 147 "

_Tarso-metatarsus._

Total length 95-162 mm.
Width at proximal extremity 14 "
Width at distal extremity 13.5-14 "
Width of shaft 6.2-7 "

_Tibio-tarsus._

Total length 140-210 mm.
Width at distal extremity 12-13 "
Width at proximal extremity 13-14 "
Width of shaft 6-6.5 "

{113}
_Femur._

Total length 90-92 mm.
Width of distal extremity 15-16 "
Width of proximal extremity 14-16 "
Width of shaft 6.2-7 "

_Sternum._

Total length 64-88 mm.
Width in front 35-48 "
Width behind costal facets 26-36 "
Width at posterior border 27-35 "

_Coracoidals._

Total length 59-67 mm.
Width at lower extremity 17-18 "

_Humerus._

Total length 118-180 mm.
Width of proximal extremity 20-27 "
Width of distal extremity 16.5-24 "
Width of shaft 7-11 "

_Metacarpals._

Total length 62-98 mm.
Width of proximal extremity 12-17 "
Width of distal extremity 7-11 " "

The anonymous author of the manuscript "Rélation de l'île Rodrigue" (see Ann. Sci. Nat. (6) II p. 133 et seq. 1875) about the year 1830 mentions this bird as follows:--"There are not a few Bitterns which are birds which only fly a very little, and run uncommonly well when they are chased. They are of the size of an Egret and something like them."

Habitat: Rodriguez Island.

2 Humeri, 2 Femora, 2 Tibiae, and 2 Metatarsi in the Tring Museum. {114}

ARDEA DUBOISI NOM. NOV.

_Butors ou Grands Gauziers_ Dubois, Les Voyages faits par le Sieur D.B.
(1674) p. 169.

L'Abbé Dubois is the only author who has, as far as I can ascertain, told us that the Island of Réunion also had a large almost flightless Heron as well as Mauritius and Rodriguez; and so feeling sure that it, like most other birds of this island, was distinct I name it after him.

The translation of his original description is as follows:--"Bitterns or Great Egrets, large as capons, but very fat and good. They have grey plumage, each feather spotted with white, the neck and beak like a Heron, and the feet green, made like the feet of Poullets d'Inde (_Porphyrio_, W.R.). This bird lives on fish."

Habitat: Réunion or Bourbon. {115}

ARDEA MAURITIANA (NEWT. & GAD.)

_Butorides mauritianus_ Newton & Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. XIII, p.
289 (1893).

The bones on which this species is founded are a pair of ulnae, one radius, four metatarsi, and one coracoid. The description is as follows:--"The bones in question are all considerably shorter than the corresponding bones of _A. (Nycticorax) megacephala_. The metatarsi agree otherwise in every detail with those of the latter species; this relative stoutness indicates that they belonged to a Night-Heron or Bittern like _A. megacephala_. The two ulnae cannot, unfortunately, be compared with those of _A. megacephala_; their length, 110 mm., compared with the length of the humerus of _A. megacephala_, 119 mm., shows, however, likewise that they were those of a considerably smaller bird. The single left coracoid agrees in all the features of its dorsal or scapular half with _A. megacephala_, but its ventral or sternal half differs considerably, first by the much more strongly marked ridge of the _linea intermuscularis_ on its ventral surface, secondly by the almost straight instead of inwardly curved margin between the _processus lateralis_ and the lateral distal corner of the sternal articulation, thirdly by a very low but very distinct and sharp ridge, which arises from the median margin of the coracoid, a little above its median articulating corner. This roughness or prominent ridge is entirely absent in _A. megacephala_ and in all other Herons which we have been able to examine, but at least a slight indication of it occurs in an individually varying degree in _Nycticorax_ and _Botaurus_. That this coracoid bone belonged, however, to an Ardeine bird is clearly indicated by its whole configuration, notably by the shape and position of the precoracoid process, the various articulating facets at the dorsal end, and the prominent lip on the visceral or internal surface of the median portion of the sternal articulating facet."

The following are the measurements:--

Length of ulna 111-112 mm.
Length of metatarsus 81- 87 "
Length of coracoid 48 "

Habitat: Mauritius.

Although _megacephala_ and _mauritiana_ have been placed in _Ardea_ and _Butorides_ respectively, from the short, stout legs and general build, I am inclined to think that all three of these Herons belong to the genus _Nycticorax_.

{117}

PROSOBONIA BP.

This genus is, in the Catalogue of Birds, placed in a section with somewhat long tarsus, the latter being longer than the culmen, containing in addition to _Prosobonia_ the genera _Tringites_, and _Aechmorhynchus_ (see afterwards), and it differs from the latter by its long hind toe, from the former by its square tail. The position of this singular bird is, however, not quite certain. The late Henry Seebohm placed it in the genus _Phegornis_, though the latter has no hind toe whatever, and it has even--but doubtless wrongly--been suggested that it belonged to the _Rallidae_, rather than to the _Charadriidae_. We know only one species. It is true that Dr. Sharpe bestowed a new name on the figure of Ellis, which is said to have been taken from an Eimeo-specimen, but it is hardly creditable that it belongs to a different species. Latham appears to have had three specimens, which were all three different from each other. Both Forster and Ellis, in their unpublished drawings in the British Museum, as well as Latham, evidently considered all three to belong to the same species, and it is not advisable now to over-rule their verdict, given with the specimens before them, merely on account of the different plumages, since we all know that most waders, and especially brightly-coloured ones, differ considerably in plumage, according to age and seasons. We are convinced that "_P. ellisi_" has been a younger bird. Sharpe attaches importance to the different habitat, but this is no argument in this instance, because Eimeo is, at the nearest point, not more than seven and a half miles from Tahiti,[2] and it is quite against all precedents among _Charadriidae_ and beyond all plausibility that two such closely situated islands have closely allied forms of a Wader.

{118}

PROSOBONIA LEUCOPTERA (GM.)

(PLATE 35.)

_White-winged Sandpiper_ Latham, Gen. Syn. III, pt. 1, p. 172, pl.
LXXXII (1785--Otaheite and Eimeo).

_Tringa leucoptera_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, p. 678 (1788--ex Latham!);
Westermann, Bijdr. Dierk. I, p. 51, pl. 15 (1854--Figure of the type).

_Totanus leucopterus_ Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. d'Hist. Nat. (Ed. II) VI,
p. 396 (1817).

_Calidris leucopterus_ Cuvier, Règne Anim. I, p. 526 (1829).

_Tringa pyrrhetraea_ Lichtenstein, Forster's descr. anim. p. 174
(1844--Otaheiti).

_Prosobonia leucoptera_ Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. XXXI, p. 562 (1850);
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIV, p. 525 (1896).

_Tringoides leucopterus_ Gray, Handl. B. III, p. 46 (1871).

_Phegornis leucopterus_ Seebohm, Geogr. Distrib. Charad. p. 452 pl. 18
(1888).

_Prosobonia ellisi_ Sharpe, Bull. B.O.C. XVI, p. 86 (1906--"Eimeo").

Dr. Sharpe's description, made from the type in the Leyden Museum, is as follows: "Adult. General colour of upper surface blackish brown; the lower back and rump ferruginous; centre tail-feathers blackish, the rest rufous, banded with black, less distinctly on the two next the middle pair; wing-coverts blackish, with a white spot near the carpal bend of the wing, formed by some of the lesser coverts; crown of head blackish, the hind-neck browner, mixed with black; sides of face brown, the lores and ear-coverts slightly more reddish, behind the eye a little white spot; cheeks and under surface of body ferruginous red, the throat buffy white. Length 6.7 inches, culmen 0.9, wing 4.45, tail 2.15, tarsus 1.3 (Mus. Lugd.)"

We know nothing of this bird, but the one specimen in the Leyden Museum, which is the type, or at least one of the types. As no other specimens have been obtained for nearly a century and a quarter, there is every reason to fear that this bird is extinct. My plate has been made up by Mr. Lodge from the unpublished drawings of Ellis and Forster in the British Museum.

Habitat: Tahiti, and the adjacent islet of Eimeo.

{119}

AECHMORHYNCHUS COUES.

This genus appears to be closely allied to _Prosobonia_, but has a much shorter hind toe. Its colouration is very different, and quite that of a Sandpiper, while the pattern of _Prosobonia_ is most singular. Seebohm placed _Aechmorhynchus_, together with _Prosobonia_, in the genus _Phegornis_.

We know only one species.

AECHMORHYNCHUS CANCELLATA (GM.)

(PLATE 35.)

_Barred Phalarope_ Latham, Gen. Syn. III. pt. 1, p. 274
(1785--Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean).

_Tringa cancellata_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, p. 675 (1788--ex Latham).

_Tringa parvirostris_ Peale, U.S. Expl. Exp., Birds p. 235, pl. LXVI, 2
(1848--Paumotu) Cassin, U.S. Expl. Exp. p. 321, pl. 38, 2
(1858--Paumotu).

_Totanus_ (_Tryngites?_) _cancellatus_ Gray, Cat. B. Trop. Islands Pac.
Ocean, p. 51 (1859).

_Phegornis cancellatus_ Seebohm, Geogr. Distrib. Charadr. p. 451, pl.
17 (1888).

_Aechmorhynchus cancellatus_ Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIV, p. 525
(1896).

"Bill short, straight, and slender; wings long, first, second, and third quills very nearly equal; tertiaries but very little longer than the secondaries; tail rather long, wide, rounded; legs and toes long, the former robust; tibia feathered for more than half its length. A distinct stripe over and behind the eye ashy-white. Entire upper parts umber-brown, unspotted on the top of the head, but on the other upper parts edged and tipped with ashy-white and reddish fulvous. Tail-feathers umber-brown, with irregular and imperfect transverse narrow bands of ashy and pale reddish-white, and tipped with the same. Underparts white, with a tinge of ashy; throat and middle of the abdomen unspotted; breast, sides, and under coverts of the tail spotted, and with irregular transverse bars of brown, the latter most apparent on the sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts. Under wing-coverts ashy-white, irregularly spotted with brown. Bill greenish, darker at the tip; legs dark green. Sexes very nearly alike, female slightly paler. (Cassin.)" {120}

I have here given the synonymy of this bird, as it has now been generally accepted by Seebohm, Sharpe, and others. An actual comparison of the types would, however, be very desirable, but, unfortunately, we do not know where the type of Latham is, and if it still exists. Christmas Island lies much to the north of the Paumotu group! As no specimens have been obtained since the U.S. Exploring Expedition, we may safely suppose that the species has ceased to exist for some reason.

Habitat: "Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean and Paumotu Islands."

{121}

GALLINAGO CHATHAMICA FORBES.

_Gallinago chathamica_ Forbes, Ibis 1893, p. 545.

Evidently a species allied to _G. pusilla_, but very much larger. Bill three inches long.

Habitat: Chatham Islands.

Several skulls and a few bones in the Tring Museum. This is a snipe only a little larger than the existing _Gallinago aucklandica_.

{123}

HYPOTAENIDIA (?) PACIFICUS (GM.)

(PLATE 26.)

_Pacific rail_ Latham, Gen. Syn. III, pt. I, p. 255 (1785).

_Rallus pacificus_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, p. 717 (1788).

Forster's description is as follows, in translation: "Black with white spots or bars; abdomen, throat, and eyebrow white; hind neck ferruginous; breast grey; bill blood-red; iris red. Bill straight, compressed, narrowed at the top, thicker at the base, and blood-red. The mandibles subequal, pointed; the upper slightly curved, with the tip pale fuscous; gape medium. Nostrils almost at the base of bill, linear. Eyes placed above the gape of the mouth. Iris blood-red. Feet four-toed, split, built for running, flesh coloured. Femora semi-bare, slender, of medium length.

"Tibiae slightly compressed, shorter than the femora. Four toes, slender, of which three point forward (are front toes). The middle one almost as long as the Tibia, the side ones of equal length shorter, the back one short, raised from the ground. Nails short, small, slightly incurved, pointed, and light coloured. Head oval, slightly depressed, fuscous. A superciliary line from bill to occiput whitish. Throat white. Hindneck ferruginous. Neck very short. Back and rump black, sparsely dotted with minute white dots. Breast bluish grey. Abdomen, crissum, and loins white. Wings short, wholly black, variegated with broken white bands. Remiges short. Rectrices extremely short, black spotted with white, hardly to be distinguished from the coverts.

Total length from bill to tail 9 inches.
Total length to middle toe 12¾ "
Bill 1-1/10 "
Tibiae 2 "
Middle toe 1-3/10 " "

Mr. Keulemans' plate was done from Forster's unpublished drawing in the British Museum, and no specimen is in existence. The legs should, however, be less bright red, more flesh-colour.

Habitat: Tahiti, but evidently long extinct.

This bird, according to Forster, was called "Oomnaa" or "Eboonaa," on Otaheite, and the neighbouring islands.

{125}

NESOLIMNAS ANDREWS.

Differs from _Cabalus_ by the relatively shorter bill; by having the whole culmen convex with the tip sharply decurved, by having a close instead of a loose plumage, and a much less reduced sternum, with a well-developed instead of almost obsolete keel. Type of genus _Nesolimnas dieffenbachi_ (Gray).

NESOLIMNAS DIEFFENBACHII GRAY.

(PLATE 27.)

_Rallus Dieffenbachii_ Gray, Dieffenb., Trav. N.Z. II App. p. 197
(1843).

_Ocydromus dieffenbachi_ Gray, Voy. Ereb. and Terr., Birds p. 14, pl.
15 (1846).

_Hypotaenidia dieffenbachi_ Bonaparte, C. R. XLIII, p. 599 (1856).

_Cabalus dieffenbachi_ Sharpe, Voy. Ereb. and Terr., Birds p. 29, pl.
15 (1875), id., Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIII p. 47 (1894).

_Nesolimnas dieffenbachi_ Andrews, Novit. Zool. III. p. 266, pl. X,
figs 3-15 (1896).

Adult: "General colour above, brown, banded on the mantle and scapulars, and spotted on the upper back with ochreous buff, these buff markings being margined with black, which takes the form of broad bars on the mantle; lower back and rump uniform brown; upper tail coverts brown, barred across with light rufous and black; lesser wing coverts like the back; median and greater coverts, as well as the primary coverts and quills, light chestnut, barred with black, the inner secondaries spotted and barred with ochre and black, like the back; tail feathers brown, mottled with chestnut near the base; crown of the head and nape uniform brown, followed by an indistinct patch of chestnut on the hindneck; lores dull rufous, surmounted by a broad line of bluish grey, extending from the base of the nostrils to the sides of the nape; rest of the sides of the face bluish grey, extending on to the lower throat; this grey area of the face separated from the grey eyebrow by a broad band of dark chestnut, which extends from the lores through the eye along the upper part of the ear-coverts; chin and upper throat white; lower throat black, barred across with white; fore neck and chest ochreous buff, banded rather narrowly with black, this pattern of colouration {126} extending up the sides of the neck to the chestnut on the ear coverts; lower breast and abdomen black, banded with white, the light bars on the flanks and vent feathers being tinged with ochreous; under-tail coverts broadly banded with black and ochre; under-wing coverts and axillaries blackish, barred with white; under surface of quills chestnut, with broad black bars.

Wing 4.8 inches, culmen 1.35, tail 2.7" (Sharpe).

Habitat: Chatham Islands.

The type and only known specimen is that in the British Museum.

{127}

CABALUS HUTTON.

_Cabalus_ Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. Vol. VI p. 108, pl. XX (1874--Type
and unique species _Cabalus modestus_).

Captain Hutton characterized his new genus as follows: "Bill longer than the head, moderately slender and slightly curved, compressed in the middle and slightly expanding towards the tip; nostrils placed in a membranous groove which extends beyond the middle of the bill, openings exposed, oval, near the middle of the groove. Wings very short, rounded; quills soft, the outer webs as soft as the inner, fourth and fifth the longest, first nearly as long as the second; a short, compressed claw at the end of the thumb. Tail very short and soft, hidden by the coverts. Tarsi moderate, shorter than the middle toe, flattened in front, and covered with transverse scales; toes long and slender, inner nearly as long as the outer, hind toe short, very slender, and placed on the inner side of the tarsus; claws short, compressed, blunt.

"The bird is incapable of flight, and the stomach of the specimen, dissected by Dr. Knox, contained only the legs and elytra of beetles."

Captain Hutton also adds, l.c., a valuable description of the skeleton.

One species known.

CABALUS MODESTUS (HUTTON).

(PLATE 28.)

_Rallus modestus_ Hutton, Ibis 1872, p. 247. (Mangare, Chatham
Islands.)

_Cabalus modestus_ Hutton, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. VI p. 108. (The genus
_Cabalus_ established.)

_Rallus dieffenbachii_ juv. Buller, B. New Zealand, Ed. I pp. 179, 180;
Ed. II p. 121 (1888).

_Cabalus dieffenbachii_ (part., juv.!) Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIII
p. 47 (1894); corr. p. 331.

_Cabalus modestus_ Forbes, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. No. IV. p. XX (Dec.
1892); Salvadori, op. cit. V p. XXIII (Jan., 1893); Forbes, Ibis 1893,
pp. 532, 544, pl. XIV, fig. 4, egg; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIII p.
331 (1893); Buller, Suppl. B.N.Z. I p. 45, pl. III (1905).

_Ocydromus pygmaeus_ Forbes, Nature XLVI, p. 252 (1892--nomen nudum!
cf. Ibis 1893, p. 544).

Captain Hutton (Ibis 1872, p. 247) described this interesting species as follows: "Olivaceous brown, bases of the feathers plumbeous; feathers of the breast slightly tipped with pale fulvous, those of the abdomen and flanks with two narrow bars of the same colour; {128} throat dark grey, each feather slightly tipped with brown. Quills soft brown, the first three faintly barred with reddish fulvous, fourth and fifth the longest. Tail very soft and short, brown. Irides light brown, bill and legs light brown. Length 8.75 inches, wing 3.15, bill from gape 1.4, tarsus 1, middle toe and claw 1.4.

_Young._ Uniform brownish black.

A single specimen and young from Mangare; also a specimen in spirits."

The author knew perfectly well what he was doing when he described this excellent species. Sir Walter Buller afterwards (B. New Zealand, Ed. I, pp. 179, 180) declared "after carefully comparing it with the type of _Rallus dieffenbachii_, and submitting the matter to the judgment of other competent ornithologists, I have no hesitation in considering it the same species, in an immature state of plumage." (_Sic!_) Unfortunately, Dr. Sharpe, in the Catalogue of Birds XXIII, repeated Buller's error, and, on Plate VI, figured _Cabalus modestus_ under the name of _Cabalus dieffenbachii_, though the latter is not congeneric with _C. modestus_, and must be called _Nesolimnas dieffenbachii_, while the third form included in _Cabalus_ by Dr. Sharpe, viz. _sylvestris_ of Lord Howe's Island, must also be separated genetically from _Cabalus_.

Formerly _Cabalus modestus_ inhabited Great Chatham Island, as Dr. Forbes proved by bones found by himself at Warekauri, but when the species was discovered it existed there no more, though being plentiful on the little outlying island of Mangare. Unfortunately even there it is evidently extinct now, this island being overrun with cats and rats, besides which, according to Buller, the original vegetation has been ruthlessly burnt down for the purpose of sowing grass-seed, as even this bleak little island has been claimed by an enterprising sheep-farmer. Fortunately a good many specimens have been secured by the late W. Hawkins. I have fifteen in my museum, and there are specimens in the British Museum, in Liverpool, and one in Cambridge. Henry Palmer failed to get specimens when he visited Mangare.

I have also the egg described and figured in the Ibis by Dr. Forbes. It measures 40 by 21.4 mm., and is creamy white, with faint pale reddish and purplish roundish spots.

Habitat: Chatham Islands, east of New Zealand.

{129}

OCYDROMUS MINOR HAMILTON.

_Ocydromus sp._ Hamilton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXV, p. 103 (1893).

_Ocydromus minor_ Hamilton (nec. Forbes) l.c.

This species is nearest allied to _sylvestris_ Scl., which has quite erroneously been placed in the genus _Cabalus_ by Dr. Sharpe; _sylvestris_ will have to form the type of a new genus, but until the skull of _minor_ is known I prefer to leave the latter temporarily in _Ocydromus_.

The present species is known from two pelves, seven femora, six tibiae, and five metatarsi, as well as the front portion of a sternum. The measurements all show that _minor_ was a slightly larger form than _sylvestris_, but owing to having a much shorter tibio-tarsus it must have been a much stumpier bird.

_Minor._ _Sylvestris._

Pelvis extreme length 65 mm. 62.5 mm.
Pelvis extreme breadth 28 " 25 "
Femur length 64 " 63 "
Tibio-tarsus length 93 " 98 "
Tarso-metatarsus length 53 " 51 "
Sternum greatest width 24.5 " 24.5 "

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand. Extinct.

OCYDROMUS INSIGNIS FORBES.

_Ocydromus insignis_ Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 188
(1892--insufficient description).

This bird "far exceeded in size any of the existing species of _Ocydromus_." That is all that is published about this bird.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

{131}

APHANAPTERYX FRAUENFELD.

Bill produced, not cut short, rather curved. The nostrils are exposed and situated at the base of the bill. Halluces of the naked fowl-like legs of moderate length. Front of legs apparently scutellated. Wings abortive, no rectrices apparent.

APHANAPTERYX BONASIA SELYS.

(PLATE 29.)

_A Hen_ Sir Thomas Herbert, A relation of some years' Travaile (1626).

_Velt-hoenders_ Reyer Cornelisz, Van der Hagen's voyage (1646).

_Poules rouges au bec de Becasse_ Cauche, Rélations véritables et
curieuses de l'Isle de Madagascar (1651).

_Apterornis bonasia_ Edm. de Sélys-Longchamps, Revue Zoologique, p. 292
(1848).

_Didus herberti_ Schlegel, Vers. Med. Ak. Wetensch., II, p. 256 (1854).

_Didus broecki_ Schlegel, l.c.

_Aphanapteryx imperialis_ Frauenfeld, Neu aufgef. Abbild. Dronte, p. 6
(1868).

_Aphanapteryx broeckii_ Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (5), X, pp.
325-346, pls. 15-18 (1868).

_Pezophaps broeckii_ Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Struthiones, p. 4 (1873).

I here give a translation of Frauenfeld's original diagnosis: "Of the size of a fowl, of a uniform brown red all over. Bill and legs dark. Iris yellowish. Feathers decomposed, as in the _Apteryx_, somewhat lengthened on the nape."

This description was made by Frauenfeld from a drawing by G. Hoefnagels, in the Imperial Library, Vienna, executed about the year 1610, and, together with that of the Dodo, apparently drawn from life in the Imperial Menagerie at Ebersdorf. This drawing proves Van den Broecke, Herbert, and Cauche's descriptions to have been correct, though their drawings are somewhat startlingly different in shape. Only known from these four drawings and osseous remains. 18 fragments of beaks, 5 pelves, 35 tibiae, 1 sacrum and fragments, and 1 vertebra in the Tring Museum.

Habitat: Mauritius.

{133}

DIAPHORAPTERYX FORBES.

This genus is closely allied to _Aphanapteryx_ and _Erythromachus_, but, on the whole, is nearer to _Aphanapteryx_. It differs from both these genera and _Ocydromus_ in the large protuberances on the basi-temporal region of the skull, and the tarso-metatarsus was much shorter than in _Aphanapteryx_. For complete diagnosis of this genus see Andrews in Novitates Zoologicae, Vol. III, pp. 73-76 (1896).

DIAPHORAPTERYX HAWKINSI (FORBES).

_Aphanapteryx hawkinsi_ Forbes, Nature XLVI, p. 252.

_Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi_ Forbes, Bull. B.O.C.I. p. XXI, 1893.

The remains of this bird were first sent to Dr. H. O. Forbes in 1892 by the late W. Hawkins, from the Chatham Islands, 500 miles E.S.E. of New Zealand. It appears to have been confined to the Island of Wharekauri. Dr. Forbes subsequently went to the Chathams himself and collected a large number of bones of various extinct birds, including those of _Diaphorapteryx_. In 1895 I received a consignment of bones through the agency of Mr. Dannefaerd, from the Chathams, such as has never been equalled from any deposit elsewhere, for literally there were many hundreds of thousands of bones of a considerable number of species of birds. From this collection Mr. C. W. Andrews was able to draw up a most minute description of the skeleton of _Diaphorapteryx_, founded on several practically complete skeletons, some thirty or more skulls, and several thousand individual bones of various portions of the skeleton. This description, published in Novitates Zoologicae, Vol. III, pp. 73-84, is too long for reproduction here, and so I must refer my readers to it.

This bird, as well as the _Palaeolimnas_, shows an apparent relationship between the Chatham Islands and the Mascarene Islands; but I believe that {134} this is not a real relationship, as has been asserted, due to a former land-connection, but merely a case of parallel development owing to similar conditions of existence.

Habitat: Wharekauri Island, Chatham Islands.

In the Tring Museum are two complete skeletons, more than a thousand bones, and about fifteen skulls.

One almost complete skeleton, and the type, skull, and bones, are in the British Museum.

{135}

ERYTHROMACHUS MILNE-EDWARDS.

"Legs stout, made for running, and from a quarter to one-fifth shorter than in _Ocydromus_, the three anterior digits well developed and the hallux very small. Body less massive than in _Ocydromus_, with the wings slightly more developed, but not serviceable for flight. Head small; bill red, straight, pointed, and about 60 mm. = 2.4 inches. A red naked patch round the eye; plumage pale grey."

ERYTHROMACHUS LEGUATI MILNE-EDWARDS.

_Gelinote_ Leguat, t. II p. 71 (1708).

_Erythromachus leguati_ Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (5) XIX, pp. 6,
7, pls. XI, XII (1874).

_Aphanopteryx leguati_ Günther & E. Newton, Phil. Trans. Vol. 168, pp.
431-432, pl. XLIII (1879).

Of the older writers only Leguat appears to have described the Rodriguez flightless rail. There are several references to "_Hens_," "_Veld Hoenders_," &c., but all appear to refer to the Mauritius bird _Aphanapteryx bonasia_. Leguat's description is as follows:--

"Our 'gelinotes' are fat all the year round and of a most delicate taste. Their colour is always of a bright grey, and there is very little difference in plumage between the two sexes. They hide their nests so well that we could not find them out, and consequently did not taste their eggs. They have a red naked area round their eyes, their beaks are straight and pointed, near two and two-fifths inches long, and red also. They cannot fly, their fat makes them too heavy for it. If you offer them anything red, they are so angry they will fly at you to catch it out of your hand, and in the heat of the combat we had an opportunity to take them with ease."

Quite extinct. Only known from descriptions and osseous remains. One tibia in the Tring Museum.

Habitat: Rodriguez Island.

{137}

PENNULA DOLE.

_Pennula_ Dole, Hawaiian Alman. 1879 p. 54 (Reprint in Ibis 1880 p.
241).

I believe that the genus _Pennula_ should be placed near _Porzanula_, but its wings are softer, the rectrices are next to invisible, but can be felt, as they have stiff shafts and are about 13 mm. long, though being entirely hidden by the soft tail-coverts. The tibia is bare for about 7 mm., the metatarsus covered in front with nearly a dozen transverse, very distinct scales, and distinctly reticulated behind. The bill much as in _Poliolimnas_ and _Porzanula_.

Two species can be recognized: _Pennula millsi_, with a uniform upper surface, and _Pennula sandwichensis_, with a distinctly spotted upper side. Both forms are now extinct.

PENNULA MILLSI DOLE.

MOHO OF THE NATIVES.

(PLATE 26, FIG. 3.)

_Pennula millei_ (misprint for _millsi_) Dole, Hawaiian Almanac 1879 p.
54 (reprint in Ibis 1880 p. 241. "Uplands of Hawaii: named in honour of
Mr. Mills, spec. in Mills's Coll., nearly extinct"); Rothsch., Avif.
Laysan, etc., p. 241 pl. LXXVI.

_Pennula ecaudata_ apud Wilson & Evans, Aves. Hawaii., part V, text and
plate.

All we know of this bird are the five specimens caught by an old native bird-catcher named Hawelu for the late Mr. Mills of Hawaii. Two of these are now in my Museum, one in Cambridge, and two in the Bishop-Pauahi Museum in Honolulu. There can be no doubt that this bird is now extinct. All recent attempts to find specimens have been futile. Mr. Palmer, whom I sent a specially trained dog, also failed to find even traces of it. It lived formerly in the country between Hilo and the volcano Kilauea, in places where thick grass, _Vaccinium_ and _Dianella_, forms the thickest cover possible. In former times the "Moho" was a dainty on the tables of the Hawaiian kings, but its disappearance is probably due to the introduction of the obnoxious mongoose and to bush fires. {138}

PENNULA SANDWICHENSIS (GM.)

(PLATE 26, FIG. 2.)

_Rallus Sandwichensis_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat I p. 717 (1788--ex Latham!
"Habitat exilis in insulis Sandwich").

_Pennula Wilsoni_ Finsch, Notes Leyden Mus. XX p. 77 (1898--Finsch
explains that the specimen in the Leyden Museum is not the type of
Latham--and therefore of Gmelin's name--and therefore renames it).

For full synonymy and explanations of name, etc., cf. Avifauna of
Laysan, p. 239, 240 and 243, also plate LXXVI.

Latham's description--from which Gmelin's diagnosis was taken--distinctly says that the feathers were "darkest in the middle," and in the Index Ornith. "supra maculis obscuris." Moreover, the unpublished drawing of Ellis, well reproduced in Mr. Scott Wilson's book, shows beyond doubt the identity of the bird of the old authors with the specimen in the Leyden Museum.

The Leyden specimen is all we are acquainted with, and of the history of this bird we know nothing but Latham's statement that it came from the Sandwich Islands.

{139}

TRIBONYX ROBERTI ANDREWS.

_Tribonyx roberti Andrews_, Ibis 1897, p. 356, pl. IX, figs 4-7.

This bird is described from an imperfect pelvis, a perfect left tibio-tarsus and a femur. The pelvis differs from that of _T. mortieri_ in not having the deep depression in the ilia in front of the acetabulum and above the pectineal process. It also differs in having a rather wider pelvic escutcheon and wider renal fossal, and the supra-acetabular ridges of the ilia are smaller than in the Australian bird. The beautifully-preserved left tibia differs from that of _T. mortieri_ in having the intercondylar groove wider and shallower, the inner condyle less massive, thus making the difference between the inner and outer condyle more marked; _T. roberti_ also has the shaft immediately above the extensor bridge wider, the bridge itself less oblique, and the fibular crest is longer.

The measurements are:--

_Pelvis._

Length of Ilium 82 mm. approx.
Least width of acetabular region of Pelvis 14 "
Width at Antitrochanter 40 "
Width at anterior angle of Pelvic Escutcheon 36 "
Width at Posterior angle of Pelvic Escutcheon 40 "
Length of Sacrum 68 "

_Tibia._

Length 143 mm.
Width at distal extremity 12 "
Width at middle of shaft 7 "

_Femur._

Length 83 mm.
Width at distal extremity 17 "
Width at middle of shaft 7 "

Habitat: Sirabé in C. Madagascar.

{141}

NOTORNIS OWEN.

Differs from _Porphyrio_ by the secondaries being nearly as long as the primaries, and the wing-coverts more or less elongated, sometimes nearly hiding the quills.

Type: _Notornis mantelli_.

NOTORNIS MANTELLI OWEN.

_Notornis mantelli_ Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. III, p. 377, pl. LVI, figs.
7-11 (1848).

This species was founded on a nearly entire skull, collected by Walter Mantell at Waingongoro, North Island, New Zealand. This skull is more than twice the size of that of _Porphyrio melanotus_. The basisphenoidal surface, however, is flatter, the anterior angle projects below the base of the presphenoid, and there is a slender ridge continued from each paroccipital to the lateral angles of the platform, the posterior angles being hemispheric tubercles as in _Palapteryx_.

The occipital region inclines forwards as it rises, while the same is more vertical in _Porphyrio_. The post-frontal is broader than in _Porphyrio_. The chief distinction from that of _Porphyrio_ is, however, the almost regular four-sided figure of the skull. The breadth of the anterior part is almost exactly that of the occipital region, and the extent of the sides is not much more than that of the front and back part. The parieto-frontal region of the skull is very unlike that of _Porphyrio_, being convex and oblong, and _Notornis_ also lacks cerebral or hemispheric convexities. Owen gives a large number of other differences, but I refer my readers to the original article as above, pp. 366-371. I, however, must state here, as is already mentioned by Mr. Hamilton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 176, 1892, that the _Dinornis_ skull, with which Professor Owen compared _Notornis_, referred by him to _D. casuarinus_ is really that of _Aptornis defossor_ (_vide_ Trans. Zool. Soc. III, pl. 52, figs. 1-7), and, therefore, it is quite natural that Professor Owen found a great likeness to _Dinornis_ in _Notornis_, as the skull he compared it with was really that of the Ralline _Aptornis_, and not the Struthious _Dinornis_ at all.

Habitat: North Island, New Zealand.

Dr. H. O. Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst., discusses at length measurements of tibiae and femora of _Notornis_, provisionally naming the skeleton in the Otago Museum _Notornis parkeri_, as a new species, but I consider we must wait for confirmation till we get an associated skeleton of _N. mantelli_. {142}

NOTORNIS HOCHSTETTERI A.B.M.

(PLATE 34.)

_Notornis Hochstetteri_ A. B. Meyer, Abbild. Vogelskelett, Lief. IV &
V, p. 28, pl. XXXIV-XXXVII (1883--South Island, New Zealand);
Zeitschr. ges. Orn. II, p. 45, pl. I (1885--figures of the bird).

_Notornis mantelli_ (non Owen 1848!) Gould, P.Z.S. London, 1850, pl.
21; Trans. Zool. Soc. London IV, pl. 25 (1850); Gould, B. Austr.
Suppl., pl. 76 (1869); Buller, B. New Zealand, pl. (1873); Sharpe,
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIII, p. 208 (1894).

The name _Notornis mantelli_ having been based on a cranium and some leg-bones from the North Island, and the bones of a specimen from the South Island, showing marked differences, Dr. A. B. Meyer was fully justified in describing the latter form as different, under the name of _N. hochstetteri_.

According to the describer there are considerable differences in the cranial bones, but the comparison of the leg-bones shows such differences in size that these alone would be sufficient to separate the North and South Island forms. The femur of _N. hochstetteri_ measures 109, that of _N. mantelli_ 122, the tibia of the former 165, the tarso-metatarsus 109, the tibia of the latter 200, the tarso-metatarsus 129 mm. For further measurements see A. B. Meyer, Abbild. Vogelskelett I, p. 30.

The upper surface is olive-green with some slaty-blue shading, the quills are black with purplish blue outer webs; rectrices blackish, green on the outer webs. Head, neck, and under surface purplish blue, thighs more blackish. Under tail-coverts white, frontal plate and bill bright red, yellow towards the tip of both mandibles. Feet red.

Although this bird is evidently not extinct, a specimen having been captured as late as 1898, it seems that not many examples live at present in New Zealand, as they have been sought after a good deal, and yet only four have been taken so far, _i.e._, the two in the British Museum, one in the Dresden Museum, and the last-mentioned one.

Full accounts of the capture of this last specimen have been given in the Trans. New Zealand Institute, XXXI, pp. 146-150, and in Sir Walter Buller's Supplement to the Birds of New Zealand, I, pp. 66-74, where, however, the year of the capture is not mentioned, though one can guess that it must have taken place shortly before the articles on it appeared.

Habitat: Middle Island, usually called South Island, apparently nearly extinct. {143}

NOTORNIS STANLEYI (ROWLEY).

_White gallinule_, Voy. of Gov. Phillip to N.S.W., p. 273, cum tab.
(1789).

_Porphyrio stanleyi_ Rowley, Orn. Misc. I, p. 36, pl. IX (1875).

_Porphyrio melanotus_ (part.) Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. XXIII, p.
205 (1894).

_Porphyrio alba_ G. R. Gray, List Birds N.Z., &c., Ibis 1862, p. 214.

The first to point out the differences between the bird now in the Liverpool Museum and the specimen in Vienna was Mr. Dawson Rowley. The original description of the anonymous author of Phillip's Voyage is as follows:--

"This beautiful bird greatly resembles the purple Gallinule in shape and make, but is much superior in size, being as large as a dunghill fowl. The length from end of bill to that of the claws is two feet three inches. The bill is very stout, and the colour of it, the whole of the top of the head and the irides red; the sides of the head round the eyes are reddish, very thinly sprinkled with white feathers; the whole of the plumage is, without exception, white. The legs the colour of the bill. This species is pretty common on Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, and other places, and is a very tame species. The other sex, supposed to be the male, is said to have some blue on the wings."

Gray states under _Porphyrio alba_, in Ibis 1862, p. 214: "It is stated that a similar kind was found on Lord Howe Island which was incapable of flight. The wings of the male were beautifully mottled with blue."

Dr. H. O. Forbes, in the Bulletin of the Liverpool Museums, Vol. III, No. 2, pp. 62-68 (1901), gives an exhaustive account of Rowley's type, in which he comes to the conclusion that the bird is not a _Porphyrio_ but a _Notornis_, and that it is also probably a specimen of _Notornis alba_. That it is a _Notornis_ I equally believe; but I think the length of the wing-coverts in the type of _N. alba_, puts it out of the question that the two birds could be the same. Moreover, the two original pictures of Phillip and White show this difference of the wings very well. I have therefore kept the two separate, and I feel sure if we had other specimens with exact data we should find this a parallel case to that of _Nesonetta aucklandica_ of the Auckland Islands and _Anas chlorotis_ of New Zealand, and that _Notornis alba_ of Norfolk Island was a still further degenerate form to the already flightless _N. stanleyi_ of Lord Howe Island. Wing nine inches.

Habitat: Lord Howe Island. {144}

NOTORNIS ALBA (WHITE).

(PLATE 33.)

? _White gallinule_ Callam, Voy. Botany Bay (1783?) (teste Gray).

_Fulica alba_ White, Journ. Voy. N.S.W., p. 238 and plate (1790).

_Gallinula alba_ Latham, Ind. Orn. I, p. 768 (1790).

_Porphyrio albus_ Temminck, Man. d'Orn. II, p. 701 (1820).

_Porphyrio melanotus var. alba_ Gray, Voy. Ereb. and Terror, Birds, p.
19 (1844).

_Porphyrio melanotus_ Gray, Voy. Ereb. and Terror, Ed. II (1846), p.
14.

_Notornis ? alba_ Pelzeln, Sitz. k. Akad. Wiss. Wien. XLI, p. 328
(1860).

_Notornis alba_ Salvin, Ibis 1873, p. 295, pl. X.

There has been considerable confusion in connection with this bird and the following species, owing to the fact of White not having given any locality for the specimen on which Latham founded his _Gallinula alba_, and which is now in the Vienna Museum. That the Vienna specimen is really White's bird is proved because it was bought at the sale of the Leverian Museum, and White expressly states that all his birds were deposited in the Leverian Museum.

It is quite impossible to say with _certainty_ which of the two forms, _Notornis alba_ or _N. stanleyi_, came from Norfolk Island, as we have no indication of the origin of the Liverpool specimen. But seeing that in the anonymous work, "The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay," the first mentioned habitat is Lord Howe Island, and the figure shows a bird with the shorter wing-coverts of _N. stanleyi_, I think I am justified in taking the bird with longer wing-coverts--viz., _Notornis alba_, to be the bird from Norfolk Island.

White's description is as follows:--"White Fulica, with bill and front red, shoulders spined, legs and feet yellow." White's figure clearly shows the long wing coverts characteristic of the genus _Notornis_. Von Pelzeln says in his account of this bird that there is a label on it bearing the number 102, and giving as place of origin Norfolk Island, but White makes no mention of this. There are traces of a bluish shade, and two or three dark spots on the plumage, which has led many ornithologists to consider _N. alba_ an albino. Gray, in "A List of Birds from New Zealand, &c.,"[3] remarked that some Norfolk Island specimens had blue between the shoulders, and the back spotted with the same colour. He also states that the young are said to be black, then become bluish grey, and afterwards pure white. From these and other authors' similar remarks I believe we have not here a case of albinism, but a bird which was in a stage of evolution towards becoming a fixed white species. Wing 9 inches (measured by myself in the Vienna Museum).

Habitat: Norfolk Island.

{145}

APTERORNIS SELYS.

"Differed widely from _Didus_ and _Pezophaps_ in its long beak, which resembles a little that of a woodcock, but is much stronger. These birds were high on the leg, ran swiftly, and were far removed from pigeons like the Dodo and the Solitaire, but to which they had a certain resemblance, owing to their rudimentary wings, apology for a tail, and the disposition of their digits."

The above is a translation of de Selys-Longchamps' diagnosis of the genus, but owing to his inclusion therein of _Didus solitarius_ and _Aphanapteryx bonasia_, it does not fit when restricted to the "Oyseau bleu" of Le Sieur D.B. It might be described as: Resembling _Aptornis_, but with shorter bill and feet, thus more approaching _Notornis_.

One species.

APTERORNIS COERULESCENS SELYS.

(PLATE 32.)

_Oyseaux bleus_ Le Sieur D.B., Les Voyages aux Isles Dauphine and
Bourbon, pp. 170, 171 (1674).

_Apterornis coerulescens_ Selys-Longchamps, Rev. Zool. 1848, p. 294.

The original description of the Sieur D.B. (Dubois) is as follows (translated):--"_Oyseaux bleus_: As big as the Solitaires; they have the plumage entirely blue, the beak and the feet red and made like those of fowls; they do not fly at all, but run extremely quickly, so that a dog can hardly catch them; they are very good."

Habitat: Bourbon or Réunion.

Dubois gives the size of these birds as the same as that of a big goose and the feet as being like those of a fowl: I have, therefore, in reconstructing the plate of this bird, had it made intermediate in structure between the New Zealand _Notornis_ and _Aptornis_, which were evidently its nearest allies.

{147}

APTORNIS OWEN.

Differs from _Dinornis_, _Palapteryx_ and _Notornis_ in having an articular surface for a very strong hind toe, and the tarso-metatarsus of a conformation more nearly resembling that found in the _Dodo_, but shorter and thicker than in the latter. In addition, the strong calcaneal process, perforated by a complete bony canal for the tendon at the back part of the proximal end of the tarso-metatarsus; the perforation above the interspace between the condyles for the middle and outer toes; and the more posterior position for the condyle for the inner toe all prove the distinctness of this genus.

Type: _Aptornis otidiformis_.

APTORNIS OTIDIFORMIS (OWEN).

_Dinornis otidiformis_ Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. III, p. 247, pls. XXV
and XXVI, fig. 5 (1844).

_Aptornis otidiformis_ Owen, ibidem p. 347 (1848).

This is the North Island form, and I must refer my readers to Owen's description, only remarking that Mr. Hamilton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 179, says the vertebrae assigned by Owen to _Cnemiornis_ all belong to _Aptornis_.

Locality of type tibia: Poverty Bay, North Island, New Zealand; collected by Rev. Wm. Williams in 1842. {148}

APTORNIS DEFOSSOR OWEN.

_Aptornis defossor_ Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. VII, pp. 353 to 366, pls.
40-44 (1871).

The skull differs from that of _A. otidiformis_ by the vertical surface of the descending part of the occiput being less deeply concave, the occipital foramen relatively smaller. The hind part of the base of the alisphenoid is more produced and tuberous outside the end of the hyoid process of the paroccipital in _A. defossor_.

The chief other differences in size, according to Owen, are as follows:--

_A. defossor_. _A. otidiformis_.
_Skull._
Length 7.2 inches. 6.2 inches.
Breadth across paroccipitals 3.3 " 2.9 "
Breadth across postfrontals 3.2 " 2.10 "
Breadth across temporal fossae 2.3 " 1.1 "
Breadth of base of upper mandible 1.6 " 1.3 "
Breadth of middle of upper mandible 1.4 " 1.1 "
Breadth of fore end of upper mandible 0.7 " 0.6 "
Length of premaxillary 5.0 " 4.3 "

_Femur._
Length 7.6 " 6.2 "
Breadth of proximal end 2.2 " 1.9 "
Breadth of distal end 2.2 " 1.9 "
Circumference of middle of shaft 2.9 " 2.3 "

_Tibia._
Length 10.3 " 8.9 "
Breadth of proximal end 2.3 " 1.9 "
Breadth of distal end 1.10 " 1.3 "
Circumference of middle of shaft 2.6 " 1.11 "

_Metatarsus._
Length 4.4 " 3.10 "
Breadth of proximal end 1.8 " 1.5 "
Breadth of distal end 1.9 " 1.6 "
Breadth of middle of shaft 1.6 " 1.4 "

Locality of type: Oamaru.

Habitat: South Island.

A nearly perfect skeleton in the Tring Museum, collected by Mr. W. S. Mitchel in limestone cave on Oreti River, Southland.

{149}

PALAEOLIMNAS FORBES.

Differs from _Fulica_ by the much more curved shape of the skull, the deeply marked glandular impressions over the eyes, and the great pneumaticity of the frontal bones.

PALAEOLIMNAS CHATHAMENSIS (FORBES).

_Fulica chathamensis_ H. O. Forbes, Nature, vol. XLVI p. 252 (1892).

_Fulica newtoni_ H. O. Forbes, l.c. (non Milne-Edwards).

_Palaeolimnas newtoni_ H. O. Forbes, Ibis 1893, p. 544.

_Palaeolimnas chathamensis_ Milne Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (VIII) 2,
1896 p. 130.

Dr. Forbes says in Nature "I procured from the same beds which contained _Aphanapteryx_ a certain number of bones of a _Fulica_ which much resemble those of _Fulica newtoni_; like the bones of _Aphanapteryx_ (should be _Diaphorapteryx_, W.R.) they vary much in size, some being equal to, while others were considerably larger than similar bones of _Fulica newtoni_. This variation is so great that I am inclined to consider them as belonging to different species, or at least different races. I have given the name _Fulica chathamensis_" to the larger species.

Later, in the Ibis, Dr. Forbes says, "The limb-bones and pelvis correspond so closely to those of _F. newtoni_ that I am not able to separate them. The head of the type is, however, unknown."

Professor Milne-Edwards, however, points out numerous differences. In the humerus the sub-trochanterial groove is bigger, and particularly wider than in typical _Fulica_. The iliac grooves are larger than in _Fulica newtoni_, the pelvic knob is more extended, and the sciatic foramen is larger. The first sacral vertebrae are stunted below the median sinus, while in the Mauritius species one observes a very stout one, occupying the four first vertebrae of the pelvis. The feet were also larger and stronger than in the latter.

Habitat: Chatham Islands.

An almost complete skeleton and numerous bones in the Tring Museum, and an almost complete skeleton in the British Museum. {150}

PALAEOLIMNAS NEWTONI (MILNE-EDWARDS).

_Poules d'eau_ Sieur D.B., Voyages 1674.

_Fulica newtoni_ Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (5) VIII pp. 194-220,
pls. 10-13 (1867).