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NOTORNIS MANTELLL

Owen.

Notornis.

Notornis Mantelli, Owen in Trans. of Zool. Soe.

» Vol. iii. p. 3
in Ib., 1850.

77.—Mantell in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1850.—Gould

a

THE 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

previously by its fossil or seml-fossilized remains, the
degree; it is well known that the e
but for Mr. Walter Mantell’s fortun
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. .

known to us
interest becomes enhanced in the highest xistence of the celebrated

Dodo is all but traditionary, a fate which, ate acquisition of a living
= 5

example, would probably have been

That few living examples remain, is evident fr

5
possession is the only one that has yet been
is comprised in the following interesting

om the fact that the mounted specimen in Dr. Mantell’s
seen; all the information respecting it that has been obtained

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 unknown 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 being 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 ‘ Moho,’ and to the South Islanders by that of ‘ Zakahé’; but the bird was con-
sidered by nai 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: ‘Rar, colour black, said to be a wingless bird a large as a fowl, with red beak
and legs; it is nearly exterminated by the cat: its cry was ‘keo, keo.’’ The pacer ey and eee
of this description prove it to be from native report and not from actual observation. To the cee of
the pahs or villages on the homeward route, and at Wellington, the a was a Powe Hoey and excited
much interest. I may add, that upon comparing the head of the be va the fossil cranium and man:
dibles, and the figures and descriptions in the ‘ Zoological Se 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
extinct contemporaries of the Moa, that he immediately wrote to une, ut mentioned that the Soe
beaks were alike in the recent and fossil specimens, and that the abbreviated and Hed e development of the
wings, both in their bones and plumage, were in ee accordance oh a a oe ae
the fossil humerus and sternum found by him at Waingongoro, and now in the British Museum, as poi
out by Professor Owen in the memoir above referred to. vvinw example of a ene

“In concluding this brief narrative of the discovery of a living a a , oe : pe ae
emi Colossa! Moa, and nee a ae a ae ane to the Geren
highly interesting fact tends to confirm the conclusions expres is “sith cc ee
Society, namely, that the Dinornis, Palapteryx, and related forms, were coeve ae ee
e.. of i. peculiar to New Zealand, and thet a final extinction took place at no very distant
period, and long after the advent oe aboriginal ae - a pigantie Ikind of Berphym, bacon neeatrs

Upon a cursory view of this bird it might be mistal a es i: _ Fe Se ell edl eo Pe sale eG
nation of its structure it will be found to be generically distinct.

: : : ; st, while in the feebleness of
its bill and in its general colouring, and to Trzbonyx in Ce eee ae

its wings and the structure of its tail it differs Oe oe Tce wae
F : nal observation of the habits of Zribonya and Porphyrio, ‘ : oe
in tl semble those of the former than 5
res ird more closely resemble
habits and economy of the present birc mn ine a
latter; that it i doubtless of a recluse and extremely shy disposition; that bemg dey j
atter; that it is ‘ é