This is the stoutest and bulkiest species, though not so tall as _Ae. titan_. All the largest eggs next to those of _Ae. titan_ must belong to this species. It will be argued that I have no right to use the name _maximus_ for this form, but the name of _maximus_ is based on one of the eggs in the Paris Museum, and as these evidently belong to this form and not to the form subsequently called _maximus_, I must apply to that the name of _grandidieri_, given by Mr. Dawson Rowley in 1867 to a portion of eggshell of the lesser form. The measurements of the limbs are as follows:-- _Femur._ Total length 440 mm. Width at proximal end 190 " Width at distal end 200 " Circumference at narrowest part of shaft 265 " _Tibio-tarsus._ Total length 780 mm. Width at proximal end 180 " Width at distal end 160 " Circumference at narrowest part of shaft 210 " _Tarso-metatarsus._ Total length 420 mm. Width at proximal end 170 " Width at distal end 160 " Circumference at narrowest part of shaft 200 " The description of the foot in the diagnosis of the family is based on the pes of this species. It is true that the two mounted skeletons in the British and Tring Museums of _Aepyornis hildebrandti_ show a larger number of phalanges; but as neither is composed of the bones of a single individual it is more than likely that the articulator made a mistake. The dimensions of the type egg are as follows:-- Large diameter 340 mm. Small diameter 225 " Large circumference 850 " Small circumference 710 " Habitat: S. W. Madagascar. There are about 16 eggs known of this form, varying from 854 mm. to 816 mm. in large circumference, and from 743 mm. to 715 mm. in small circumference. {226} AEPYORNIS GRANDIDIERI ROWLEY. _Aepyornis Maximus_ Auct. _Aepyornis grandidieri_ Rowley, P.Z.S. 1867, p. 892. This is the form which nearly all the bones, referred erroneously to Geoffroy's _Ae. maximus_, belong. The original description of Dawson Rowley was founded on a piece of eggshell, and is as follows:--