Part 41

For full description see Trans. N. Z. Inst. VI, pp. 76-84, pls. X-XII (1874). {98}

"CNEMIORNIS GRACILIS" FORBES.

Cnemiornis gracilis Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 187 (1892) (Nomen nudum).

"A most elegantly moulded goose from the North Island." Unfortunately this is all that has been published about this form!

Habitat: North Island, New Zealand.

CNEMIORNIS MINOR FORBES.

Cnemiornis minor Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 187 (1892); vide also Trans. N.Z. Inst. VI, pp. 76-84 (Hector).

This species appears to be distinguished from Cnemiornis calcitrans by its very small size, being hardly bigger than Cereopsis novaehollandiae.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

{99}

CEREOPSIS NOVAEZEALANDIAE FORBES.

Cereopsis novaezealandiae Forbes, Trans. N. Zealand Inst. XXIV, p. 188 (1892).

This species was founded on an incomplete skull, and differed from C. novaehollandiae by its slightly larger size.

Habitat: New Zealand.

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SARCIDIORNIS MAURITIANUS NEWT. & GAD.

Sarcidiornis mauritianus Newton & Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. XIII, p. 290, pl. XXXIV, figs. 9-10.

The evidence on which this species is founded is a single left metacarpal and an incomplete left half of the pelvis. Its specific character is the very large size as compared to the two existing species.

Habitat: Mauritius.

In an old work entitled "Memorandums concerning India" by J. Marshall (1668) in the article on the Island of Mauritius, there occurs this passage: "They are many Geese; the halfe of their wings towards the end are black and the other halfe white; they are not large, but fat and good. Plenty of Ducks." As there is no mention of the caruncle on the bill here or in other authors alluding to geese in Mauritius, Oustalet doubted that these geese were this Sarcidiornis, but I believe this merely to have been an oversight of Marshall's and that his description goes far to prove the distinctness of Newton and Gadow's species.

The allusion to the small size also points to the geese of Marshall being the Sarcidiornis. L'Abbé Dubois in "Les Voyages du Sieur D.B." records the fact that on Bourbon were some wild geese slightly smaller than the geese of Europe but having the same plumage. Their bill and feet were red. It is also probable that wild geese were found on Rodriguez. There is nothing to show what these Bourbon geese were, and as no osseous remains of such birds have been found as yet it is impossible to do more than mention the fact of such birds having been recorded.

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ANAS FINSCHI VAN BENEDEN.

Anas finschi Van Beneden, Journ. Zool. IV, p. 267 (1875); Ann. de la Soc. Geol. Belg. II, p. 123 (1876).

This duck is most peculiar, as it stands intermediate between Querquedula and Dendrocygna in structure, and its nearest known ally seems to be the extinct A. blanchardi of Europe, and of living forms apparently Clangula clangula.

Skull nearest to that of Clangula clangula but wider, nostrils more elongated, eye-sockets smaller, and the whole skull more regularly rounded off. Sternum differs from that of C. clangula by having the notch lower, more faint behind and shorter in front. Clavicle and coracoid resemble those of Fuligula marila. Humerus larger and stronger than in F. marila and C. clangula, as are the femur, tibio-tarsus and tarso-metatarsus, which are almost double as long and thick.

Judging from the shape of its leg-bones this bird must have been a strong runner, and probably at the same time was a poor flyer.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.