_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_.
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