_Dinornis oweni_ Haast, Trans. Zool. Soc. XII, p. 171, pl. XXXI, XXXII
(1886).
_Cela curtus_ Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst., XXIV, p. 127 (1892), portion.
Dr. von Haast (Sir Julius von Haast) took as his type of _Dinornis oweni_
the almost complete skeleton collected by Mr. Cheeseman in a cave at
Patana, Whangarei, and now in the Auckland Museum. While referring my
readers to the original diagnosis for the specific characters, I wish to
specially draw attention to the fact that Dr. von Haast says that in the
collections he examined, made by Mr. Thorne and Mr. Cheeseman, there are
bones belonging to at least 20 skeletons of his _D. oweni_, and that some
were even smaller than the type, and the only difference was the constant
average difference due to sex. I draw special notice to this, as Captain
Hutton has united this form with _curtus_, saying Haast's type is only a
small individual of that species. The fact of bones of at least 20
different individuals, showing the same characters and the same differences
from _curtus_, is quite sufficient evidence for me to consider Dr. von
Haast's _D. oweni_ as a distinct species. I append measurements of the leg
bones of the types of _Cela curtus_ and _C. oweni_:--
-------------+-------------------+----------------+---------------
| Tarso-metatarsus. | Tibio-tarsus. | Femur.
-------------+-------------------+----------------+---------------
_Cela curtus_| 5.0 inches | 11.25 inches | 5.65 inches
_Cela oweni_ | 4.4 " | 9.6 " | 6.5 "
-------------+-------------------+----------------+---------------
Locality: Whangarei.
Habitat: North Island, New Zealand.