uals, however, in many parts of the country. The position filled by the mammals in other lands is there occupied by the feathered tribes, which reached a surprising development, not only in the living, but more markedly in the extinct fauna.

New Zealand is geologically very old, and probably the remnant of a large continent that has now mostly disappeared beneath the sea; its connection with other lands seems to have been severed before the appearance of mammals on the earth. The birds being the highest form of life on the ancient continent, became concentrated on the remaining islands, which retained many unique and peculiar forms unknown in other portions of the globe.

Like all the islands of the southern hemisphere, the shores of New Zealand are visited by immense numbers of the widelyspread sea-birds, including the great albatross, the largest bird that flies. On the land there are many varied and beautiful forms, including, as in other countries, hawks, owls, pigeons, ducks, etc., together with a large number of smaller birds, as thrushes, starlings, and honey-eaters; among the last is found the beautiful tui or parson bird, as it is often called from the two tufts of white feathers on the throat. Besides these there are other remarkable birds, some of which are very poor of flight, and still others that are wingless, which are peculiar to New Zealand, and of special interest.

Among the numerous parrots the most curious is the kakapo, a large green bird, that, contrary to the usual habits of its tribe, lives on the ground, and, having very poorly developed wings, seldom takes to flight; as it is unable to escape from its enemies, or procure its food in the usual way, it remains concealed during the day in the crevices of the rocks, and is most active during the night.

The rails afford a number of interesting species, among which are the weka and the pukeko, as they are called by the natives; these were both very abundant at one time, but are now becoming scarce. The weka, or wood hen, is about the size of a common fowl, of a yellowish-brown color, and inhabits the forest and fern thickets. Its peculiarity is the almost total lack of wings, these being very rudimentary and useless for flight. The weka is the most common of the brevipennate birds of New Zealand, which approach in their habits the character of the lower mammals. The Notornis is another wingless rail, that is especially interesting, as but two individuals are known, which are supposed

to be the last of their race; one of these was captured on the west coast of the South Island and is now among the treasures of the British Museum.

The true wingless birds of New Zealand, however, are the kiwis, of which four species are known; all of these are totally incapable of flight, being, as their scientific name (Apteryx) implies, without wings; they have, however, the merest rudiments of wings, that can be felt underneath the feathers. The kiwis, although at one time quite abundant and used by the natives for food, are now the most unique and rarest birds in New Zealand and probably the strangest of living birds. The kiwis are small for the order to which they belong, the Cursores, which includes the ostrich, emu, cassowary, etc., the smaller ones being from fifteen to twenty inches high, while the largest, the roaroa (A. maxima), is the size of a small turkey. They all have strong, well developed legs, depending on their speed for safety ; and long bills, which they thrust among the decayed leaves and fern-roots in quest of the grubs and insects that constitute their food. Like the kakapo, they seek their food at night, as they are then exposed to fewer enemies. As is common with the cursorial birds, the kiwis have a loose, hair-like plumage of a dull brown or gray color. Being without wings or tail they have a very odd appearance, looking like a ball of feathers, to which are appended two stout legs and a long bill. We must not fail to notice the size of the kiwi's egg, which is monstrous when compared with the size of the bird, being about five inches in length and weighing usually over thirteen ounces, or one quarter as heavy as the parent bird. Like the other short-winged birds of New Zealand, the kiwis are fast becoming exterminated, not only by the natives, but also by their new enemies, the dogs, cats, and rats, that have accompanied the white man. Wherever the country has been settled by Europeans the kiwis have disappeared, and are now found only in the wild and little-known region along the west coast of the South Island.

Science in her survey of the earth has shown that, as with the trees and flowers, the various orders of animal life are grouped in distinct geographical provinces, in which certain types predominate. Not only does this grouping hold good for the animals of to-day, but embraces, also, the later geological ages, and shows that the ancient forms frequently far surpassed their modern descendants in size. Thus, in South America, where the little armadillos and the sloths have their home, the

geologist has brought to light the remains of the huge Megatherium, that exceeded the elephant in size, and other giant edentates, that inhabited the same land in Tertiary times. In the same marked manner the marsupials which inhabit Australia and Tasmania, to the exclusion of higher forms of life, were preceded by animals of the same structure, but greatly exceeding in size the kangaroo and the wombat of to-day. The same connection holds good between the living and extinct carnivores of Asia, and with the ruminants of North America. In New Zea

(FIG. 1.) APTERYX AND DINORNIS OF NEW ZEALAND.1

land we find the little wingless kiwi preceded by a host of giants bearing the same general form, but whose ponderous frames approached that of the elephant in their development; huge wingless birds, many of them being ten or twelve feet in height, and far exceeding in size and strength the African ostrich, the largest of living birds. These giant birds, that surpass in strangeness the fabulous rocs of Arabian story, were plentiful in New Zealand at no very distant time, and are known to the natives as the moa, and have been grouped by science in two genera, Dinornis and Palapteryx.

It was the writer's good fortune while stationed at Queenstown, N. Z., in connection with the United States Transit of Venus Expedition, to obtain some of the interesting remains of these huge birds from a cave that we discovered on one of the lower mountains overlooking Lake Wakatipu. Immediately back of Queenstown rises a hill, as it is called in that land of snowy mountains, over two thousand feet high; separated from Mount Ben Lomond by a deep narrow valley, the sides of which are very steep, in some places forming beetling cliffs that are inaccessible even to the wild goats. It was on the side of this narrow valley, eighteen hundred feet from the base of the hill, that the Moa Cave, as we named it, was found. Soon after arriving at Queenstown we heard of the existence of a cave on that portion of the hill and, procuring a guide, we visited it. This cave extended into the side of the hill for a distance of fifty or seventy-five feet, but we found little in it of interest, except a few feathers, which we believe on good authority to be those of the extinct moa, indicating that this cave was very likely inhabited at one time by that bird. Proceeding up the hill to search for other caves, we soon came to a long crevice in the rock, from two to three feet wide, the sides of which were overgrown with ferns; upon parting these and looking down, I could see the bottom of the cave, which descended obliquely, and there to my great delight I saw a large bone projecting from the dirt, some twenty feet. below. I lost no time in descending the crevice and securing the prize, which I found to be a huge metatarsal bone of Dinornis robustus, measuring 17.5 inches in length, and 6.8 inches in circumference at the smallest portion of the shaft; on further search its companion was found, also a large portion of the tibia and some of the vertebræ of the same individual. Although careful search was made we were unable to find the remaining bones of the skeleton, and were at a loss to know what had become of them. These bones were all well preserved, and seemed to have lost a great part of their animal matter.

On continuing our exploration, we found that the cave first discovered joined another and still deeper one; into this we descended with the aid of a rope, and, groping our way along for about a hundred feet, were rewarded by finding more bones of the moa. In the extreme end of this cave and mingled with dirt, that had evidently fallen from above, we obtained a number of bones belonging to two or three individuals. As the cave at this point was quite narrow, the earth had to be carried back to

a wider portion, which, together with the small space in which to work, made the task difficult; we were rewarded, however, by finding a well-preserved femur of a smaller species of moa, probably Dinornis didiformis, and also a perfect sternum, perhaps belonging to the same skeleton, measuring seven inches in length by five in breadth, formed of a single strong, somewhat curved plate of bone, without any indication of a keel, thus forming a striking contrast with the strongly keeled sternum of the eagle and other birds of flight. The most interesting relics that were found in the cave were fragments of the egg-shell of these same birds; the largest piece was about five inches long by three in breadth, and but slightly changed by its long stay in the cave; these fragments were about the twentieth of an inch thick, and covered irregularly with punctures. The largest piece being placed upon an ostrich egg shows it to have belonged to a very much larger egg. A nearly perfect egg of the moa, discovered some years ago, was about ten inches long by seven in breadth, so large that "a hat would make a good egg-cup for it."

In addition, we found in our Moa Cave some small, slim bones. which are probably portions of the skeleton of a kiwi; and also an imperfectly ossified bone, about an inch long, lying with the fragments of egg-shell; this we were inclined to think belonged to the "chick" that was once inside of the moa's egg, the fragments of which we had obtained.

The cave where these bones were found was one of a series of nearly parallel rents, that followed for some distance the base of a precipice some two or three hundred feet high, and had evidently been formed by the falling away of a portion of the hillside, which is composed of mica-schist. That the bones were introduced from above, either by being washed in, or by the birds falling into the crevices, seems evident, for the caves were too narrow and too difficult of access to be inhabited by a bird as large as the moa. That some of the bones fell from above is clearly shown by the fact, that one huge femur had been caught between the side of the cave and a fragment of rock which had fallen in but was too large to reach the bottom; this bone was held so firmly that it was with considerable difficulty we secured it.

There is little doubt that the moa roamed over those mountains after they had received their present form, and the finding of their remains in such an inaccessible place, shows that huge as those birds were, they yet possessed considerable activity, for