An extinct Emu, Dromaeus minor, has lately been described from the sub-recent deposits in King Island, Bass Strait.
Pleistocene Carinate Birds, Australia.—
Many genera of carinate birds belonging to living Australian types have been identified by De Vis from the fluviatile deposits on the Darling Downs, Queensland. These include Falcons (Taphaetus and Necrastur); a Pelican (Pelicanus); an Ibis (Palaeopelargus); a Spoonbill (Platalea); Ducks (Anas, Dendrocygna, Biziura and Nyroca); a Darter (Plotus); a Pigeon (Lithophaps); a Ground-pigeon (Progura); a Mound-builder (Chosornis); a Rail (Porphyrio); Moor-hens (Gallinula, Tribonyx and Fulica); and a Stork (Xenorhynchus).
Pleistocene and Holocene Birds, New Zealand.—
In New Zealand numerous remains of birds are found, chiefly in the Pleistocene strata, associated with Moa bones: such are Cnemiornis, the Flightless Pigeon Goose ([Fig. 135]); Harpagornis, a predatory hawk-like bird larger than any existing eagle; and Aptornis, an extinct Rail. The sand-dunes, peat bogs, swamps, river alluvium, caves and rock shelters of New Zealand often contain numerous remains of the gigantic Moa birds included in the genera Dinornis, Pachyornis and Anomalopteryx, of which perhaps the best known are D. giganteus, D. maximus ([Fig. 136]), D. robustus, P. elephantopus ([Fig. 137]), and A. antiqua. Some of the species have become so recently extinct that remains of their skin and feathers have been preserved in fissures in the rocks where they were shielded from the influence of air and moisture. The remains of Moa birds are very abundant in some of the localities as at Hamilton in Southland, where, as Hutton estimated, the remains of at least 400 birds were contained within a radius of 25 feet.
Fig. 136—Cnemiornis calcitrans, Owen.
Pleistocene. New Zealand. 1/15th. nat. size
(After Owen).