ELEVEN FOOT BIRD.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 223, 21 September 1927, Page 11

ELEVEN FOOT BIRD.

FINE MOA SKELETON.

ALL BONES AND NO BRAIN.

DONATED TO AUCKLAND MUSEUM.

Although there, are two species of the moa that are larger than the one known as Dinornis ingens, it must still have been a formidable bird which walked the earth, as it stood-about eleven feet high. Through the kindness of Dr. D. A. Bathgate, of Ashburton, and formerly of Thames, the Auckland Museum has just become the possessor of a wonderfully well preserved s skeleton of one of, these birds. The curator (Mr. Gilbert Archey) this morning, when expressing pleasure at the museum's good fortune, said the important thing was that it was an individual skeleton. The bird was found all over New Zealand, and there are several skeletons in different museums, but most of them are made up from the bones of several birds found in swamps. The skeleton that has just been given to the museum was found in a cave near the Takaka River, Nelson. The discoverer was a farmer from whom Dr. Bathgate had obtained it.

Mr. Archey said the skeleton Would be a valuable acquisition to the museum, as it was in a state of preservation that made it good enough to display, while at the same time it had a special scientific value from the fact that it was an individual skeleton —all the bones being from the one bird.

This is the second recent gift of a moa skeleton to the museum, the first being that of a smaller species than the Dinornis ingens, presented last year by Mr. 6. C. L. McCall after being found near Amodeo Bay. A peculiar feature of the Dinornis ingens is the absurd disproportion between the imidense leg and thigh bones and the skull. The leg bones look to the layman very much, like those of a bullock, but the skull would not weigh more than a few ounces and would go into a decent-sized tobacco tin. Perched up on top of the immense body and long neck, such a headpiece must have looked ridiculously inadequate. Scientific men seem agreed that the great birds had a singularly poor mental equipment. If the Dinornis ingens had no more intellect than, his tiny skull suggests it was no wonder he became extinct. The sitting wild pigeon would have been a most sporting bird compared to this member of the moa family. If, however, he managed to get his kick in before the Maori landed the decisive blow with his mere, the tribe would have had to send out invitations for a tangL