ris abound in
allusions to the Moa, and that they were able to give full accounts of "its
habits, food, the season of the year it was killed, its appearance,
strength, and all the numerous ceremonies which were enacted by the natives
before they began the hunt, the mode of hunting, how cut up, how cooked,
and what wood was used in the cooking, with an account of its nest, and how
the nest was made, where it usually lived, &c." Two pages are occupied by
these details, but they are only given from memory, and Mr. White promises
a full account from his MSS. Many of the details given correspond with
facts ascertained from the discovery of native cooking places with Moas'
bones; and it seems quite incredible that such an elaborate and detailed
account should be all invention. (See _Transactions of the New Zealand
Institute_, Vol. VIII. p. 79.)

[175] See fig. in _Trans. of N. Z. Institute_, Vol. III., plate 12_b._ fig.
2.

[176] _Geographical Distribution of Animals_, Vol. I., p. 450.

[177] In my _Geographical Distribution of Animals_ (I. p. 541) I have given
two peculiar Australian genera (_Orthonyx_ and _Tribonyx_) as occurring in
New Zealand. But the former has been found in New Guinea, while the New
Zealand bird is considered to form a distinct genus, _Clitonyx_; and the
latter inhabits Tasmania, and was recorded from New Zealand through an
error. (See _Ibis_, 1873, p. 427.)

[178] The peculiar genera of Australian lizards according to Boulenger's
British Museum Catalogue, are as follows:--Family GECKONIDAE: Nephrurus,
Rhynchoedura, Heteronota, Diplodactylus, Oedura. Family PYGOPODIDAE
(peculiar): Pygopus, Cryptodelma, Delma, Pletholax, Aprasia. Family
AGAMIDAE: Chelosania, Amphibolurus, Tympanocryptis, Diporophora,
Chlamydosaurus, Moloch, Oreodeira. Family SCINCIDAE: Egerina, Trachysaurus,
Hemisphaenodon. Family doubtful: Ophiopsiseps.

[179] These figures are taken from Mr. G. M. Thomson's address "On the
Origin of the New Zealand Flora," _Trans. N. Z. Institute_, XIV. (1881),
being the latest that I can obtain. They differ somewhat from those given
in the first edition, but not so as to affect the conclusions drawn from
them.

[180] This accords with the general scarcity of Leguminosae in Oceanic
Islands, due probably to their usually dry and heavy seeds, not adapted to
any of the forms of aerial transmission; and it would indicate either that
New Zealand was never absolutely united with Australia, or that the