Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1875-06-06
The MOas.

The American Museum of Natural His
tory at Central Park has just acquired a
grand series of skeletons of the great ex-
tinct birds, the moas, of which we give
illustrations on page 1877. DR.. Hast, the
curator of Canterbury Museum at Christ
Church, New Zealand, informed several
of the great museums of the world that
he had for exchange series of six per-
feet skeletons, including five species of
the above mentioned, and about twice
that number of skeletons, more or less
perfect. which are valuable for purposes
of study. The trustees of the American
Museum, in accordance with their settled
policy to procure the most desirable ma
terial, telegraphed by cable direct to New
Zealand, and made them at once their
property.
DR.. Hast has given to the world de-
tailed account of the discovery of these
birds through the pages of the Phitosopht-
cal Institute, of Canterbury, New Zealand
In the spring of 1872, in company with
several others, he employed a gang OF
men to explore the region called Moabone
Point. Here are several large caverns
which have been produced by the action
of the sea upon ragged, volcanic for
nation, and which have been at some re-
mote period on a level with the ocean,
but are now elevated considerably above
This is inferred from the fact that the
ragged bottoms of the caverns are covered
with deep bed Of marine sand. On ex-
amning the contents of the caverns he
found that the native races more or less
recently had occupied them, and left
heaps of refuse matter, called in the Ian
guage of psychologists kitchen-middens,
that is, the natural waste or refuse OF a
camp. There are traces of European oc-
cupants, relics found on the surface in
dicating an occupation by the later set
tiers, and deeper in the strata are rude
stone implements, and the polished stones
of the prehistoric man. The latter are
found in the lowest beds, and are mingled
with bones of the huge birds, all having
been buried beneath the sands of the
the neighboring sea evidently at time
when the waves of the Pacific rolled into
them.
d. 1t is interesting to notice that in nu-
merous instances, bones wore found by
DIR. Hast that had evidently been broken
for tn. purpose of extracting the marrow
this and the fact that stone implements
are found mingled with the bones show
conclusively that the birds were coeval
with man, though they may be very an
cient. DR.. Hast maintains that the moas
have been extinct many hundreds of years.
On the other hand, DR.. Hector, OF the
Colonial Museum, believes that their ex-
tinction is very much more recent-wlthh
century or thereabouts. And he even
cxnressed a belief that few moas might
vet exist on the grassy slopes of some OF
the southern Alpine hills, between the
limits of the bush and SHOW line. Reports
are constantly occurring of the discovery
Of live moas. but thus far none have been
seen or recognized by science. Two hv-
;ng examples of this group, birds not over
foot in height, were killed by some seal
ora in the middle islands of New Zealand.
A. Nantel was fortunate in securing the
Homes of these and the skins, which are
low in the British Museum. With the
nvoan,;on of one other, in the Vienna
Wuseum these are the only ones known
at present. H., that the oreat
aas were also living, but were confined
IN tho OreclnclS Vi Jou6
locality proved to be too difhcult OF pen.
atration. and therefore We must atpresent
rest satisfied, hating between the two
opinions, until some reliable examination
has been made of this undiscovered re,
giop. The subject is fraught with unusual
interest from the fact that there were
found mingled with the moa bones por-
tons of gigantic eggs which undoubtedly
we're laid by the great birds. Some frag-
ments of these eggs still contained por,
tons of the lining membrane. DIR. Hast
saws: "About four feet from the oven,
where it was apparent the moa hunters
had cooked portions of thebirds, 1--WE came
across some large pieces of egg shells, Of
which many had still the lining mem
brane attached, proving by their line O
curvature that they were portions OF
Dinornis egg of very large size A cas-
from the fossil egg of Epiornis is in thu
American Museum; this may give some
idea of the size of those found at New
Zealand. Its length is fourteen inches
and its capacity is computed to be abou
that of $40 hens eggs Of the ordinary
size. The Epiornis is found at Madagas
car, or portions of the bones, but less il