Part 38

{85}

HARPAGORNIS HAAST.

Allied to Aquila, from which it is distinguished by the ulna being relatively shorter and the tarso-metatarsus stouter.

HARPAGORNIS MOOREI HAAST.

Harpagornis moorei Haast, Trans. N.Z. Inst. IV, p. 192 (1872).

Description of femur (from Haast): The cylindrical shaft bent forward, and above the distal extremity it is slightly curved back. The hollow on the top of the head is very large and measures .42 inch across.

The trochanteric ridge is well developed and the outer side is very rough, showing that muscles of great strength and thickness must have been attached to it.

The inter-muscular linear ridges are well raised above the shaft, of which the one extending from the fore and outer angle of the epitrochanteric articular surface to the outer condyle is the most prominent. The pits for the attachment of the ligaments in the inter-condyloid fossa are strongly marked. The femur is pneumatic, the proximal orifice is large and ear-shaped, resembling in form most closely that of the Australian Sea Eagle.

Total length 6.66 inches. Circumference at proximal end 4.66 " Circumference at distal end 5.58 " Circumference at thinnest part of shaft 2.50 "

Ungual phalanx (probably of left hallux): Length 2.92 inches. Circumference at articular end 3.17 "

Ungual phalanx (probably of right second toe): Length 2.75 inches. Circumference 2.92 "

Type locality: Glenmark Swamp.

Habitat: New Zealand.

Type bones: 1 left femur, 2 ungual phalanges, and 1 rib.

For a more detailed description my readers must refer to the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute VI, pp. 64-75 (1874).

{87}

CARBO PERSPICILLATUS (PALL.)

(PLATE 39.)

Phalacrocorax perspicillatus Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso.-Asiat. II, p. 305 (1827--Berings Island); Gould, Zool. Voy. Sulphur, p. 49, pl. XXXII (1844); Stejneger, Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 29, p. 180 (1885); id. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. XII, pp. 83-94, pls. II-IV (1889--Osteology); Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXVI, p. 357 (1898).

Graculus perspicillatus Elliot, New and heret. unfig. sp. N. Amer. B. II, part 14, No. 3, text and plate (1869).

Pallasicarbo perspicillatus Coues, Osprey III, p. 144 (1899).

Pallas gives the first recognizable description of this bird, which, as translated from the Latin, is as follows: "Of the size of a very large goose. Of the shape of the former (sc. Cormorants), which it also resembles in the white patches on the flanks. The body is entirely black. A few long, white, narrow pendant plumes round the neck, as in Herons. Occiput with a huge tuft, doubly crested. Skin round the base of the bill bare, red, blue and white, mixed, as in a turkey. Round the eyes a thick, bare white patch of skin, about six lines wide, like a pair of spectacles. Weight 12 to 14 pounds. Female smaller, without crest and spectacles. (From Steller.)"

Steller, who was shipwrecked on Bering Island in 1741, was the discoverer of C. perspicillatus, and Pallas took his diagnosis from Steller's notes.

The Spectacled or Pallas's Cormorant is one of the rarest of all birds. It is generally said that four specimens are known, but five are really in existence: Two in the St. Petersburg Museum, one in Leyden, and two in London. One of these latter is perfect, while the other has no tail. Probably all five have been obtained by Kuprianoff, the Russian Governor at Sitka, who, in 1839, gave one to Captain Belcher, and sent some others to St. Petersburg. The careful researches of Stejneger and others on Bering Island have clearly shown that this Cormorant exists no longer. Formerly it is said to have been numerous, but the natives were fond of its flesh, which formed their principal diet when other meat was difficult to obtain. Probably it would not so soon have become extinct if it had not been that their rather short wings resulted in a certain slowness of locomotion on land and in the air. A good description is given in the Catalogue of Birds, and a still more detailed one by Stejneger (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 1899, p. 86) from Brandt's manuscript.

Habitat: Bering Island. {88}

CARBO MAJOR (FORBES).

Phalacrocorax novaezealandiae var. major Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 189 (1892--no proper description).

Dr. Forbes only informed us that this shag was of greater dimensions than Ph. novaezealandiae (a very closely allied form of Ph. carbo). It would be interesting to know more about it, and, especially, if this extinct form was incapable of flight, like Ph. harrisi of the Galápagos Islands.