2i8 LOST AND VANISHING BIRDS 



due to the action of civilised man. When he came 

 upon the scene, he found the Dodo so utterly un- 

 suspicious, tame, defenceless, and even stupid (its 

 name is derived from the Portuguese D6udo, a 

 simpleton), that its capture was simple and easy 

 enough. From what we know, it must have been 

 a heavy, clumsy bird, quite unable to elude any 

 ordinary pursuit ; it was incapable of flight, and 

 could doubtless only waddle in a slow, lumbering 

 manner before its pursuers. The various animals 

 introduced into Mauritius by man also assisted in 

 exterminating the Dodo. When we bear in mind 

 the remoteness of its home, and the comparatively 

 small number of human beings that could visit it, 

 together with the desultory nature of those visits, 

 the extermination of the Dodo was a rapid one ; 

 and so quickly and completely did the species 

 vanish, that doubt was widely expressed as to 

 whether the bird had ever existed at all ! 



The Dodo, with a couple of other allied species 

 which dwelt on neighbouring islands, constitute 

 the family Dididse, most nearly allied to the 

 Pigeons — a group whose origin may probably date 

 back, according to Dr. Wallace, to early Tertiary 

 times. The Dodo, like the Great Auk, there can 

 be little doubt, owed its flightless condition to the 



