Notornis

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Notornis \No*tor"nis\, prop. n. [NL., fr. Gr. no`tos the south,
     or southwest + ? bird.] (Zool.)
     A genus of birds allied to the gallinules, but having
     rudimentary wings and incapable of flight. {Notornis
     Mantelli} was first known as a fossil bird of New Zealand,
     but subsequently a few individuals were found living on the


     southern island. It is supposed to be now nearly or quite
     extinct.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  notornis
       n : flightless New Zealand birds similar to gallinules [syn: {takahe},
            {Notornis mantelli}]