Extinct Birds Part 24

_Astur sp._ Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (5) XIX, Art. II, pp. 25, 26, pl. 15 fig. 2. (1874).

_Astur alphonsi_ Newton and Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. XIII p. 285, pl.

x.x.xIII, figs. 9, 10. (1893).

Messrs. Newton and Gadow bestowed the name _Astur alphonsi_ on a pair of tibiae, a pair of metatarsals, and the metacarpals of the left side of a goshawk apparently of the same size and relative proportions as _A.

melanoleucus_ of South Africa. They justified their description of this goshawk as a distinct species, first of all by the fact that most of the Mascarene extinct species were distinct; and then because the bony ridge for the _M. flexor digitorum communis_ was more strongly developed, the fibula reached further down the tibia, the peroneal crest was straighter and longer, and the cnemial crest slanted more gradually into the anterior inner edge of the shaft of the tibia.

Milne-Edwards gives the measurements of the solitary tarso-metatarsus of this bird which he had for examination as follows:--

Total length 80 mm.

Width at proximal extremity 11 "

Width at distal extremity 13 "

Width at smallest part of shaft 6 "

Messrs. Gadow and Newton give the length of their tarso-metatarsi as 81 mm., of their tibiae as 117 mm., and of the metacarpals as 55 mm.

Habitat: Mauritius.

Seven tarsi in the Tring Museum.

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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.

Circ.u.mference at proximal end 4.66 "

Circ.u.mference at distal end 5.58 "

Circ.u.mference at thinnest part of shaft 2.50 "

Ungual phalanx (probably of left hallux): Length 2.92 inches.

Circ.u.mference at articular end 3.17 "

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

Circ.u.mference 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 Inst.i.tute VI, pp. 64-75 (1874).

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CARBO PERSPICILLATUS (PALL.)

(PLATE 39.)

_Phalacrocorax perspicillatus_ Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso.-Asiat. II, p. 305 (1827--Berings Island); Gould, Zool. Voy. Sulphur, p. 49, pl. x.x.xII (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 s.h.i.+pwrecked 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 princ.i.p.al 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 ma.n.u.script.

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 s.h.a.g 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 Galapagos Islands.

Habitat: New Zealand.

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