Cnemiornis

( Originally Published Early 1900's )

In New Zealand there existed, apparently within a few hundred years, a large, flightless Goose (Cnemiornis calcitrans) that is nearest related to the Cereopsis Goose, although it was much larger and had a shorter, more massive skull, and a rounded, short beak. The wings were short and wholly useless for flight, and the breast-bone was without a keel. Its bones were found associated with those of the Moa, and it is presumed that the same agencies contributed to its extermination as those which brought about the disappearance of these birds.