122 A HISTORY OF BIRDS 



and this by the introduction of pigs which devoured the eggs 

 and young. The sister island of Rodriguez harboured another 

 Pigeon scarcely inferior in size to the Dodo. This was known 

 as the Solitaire ; but somehow or other the fame of this bird 

 has been quite eclipsed by that of its relative the Dodo, yet, 

 in many respects it was the more interesting bird of the two. 

 Most of our knowledge of this bird we owe to the traveller 

 Leguat, who published an account of his wanderings in 1708. 



Indiscriminate slaughter, under the pretext of killing for 

 food, has wiped out many other species, of which not more than 

 one or two can be mentioned here. 



First of all we may take the case of the Labrador or Pied- 

 duck {Somateria labradoria), which occurred in plenty, in 

 summer, about the mouth of the St, Lawrence and the coast 

 of Labrador, migrating in winter to the shores of Nova Scotia, 

 New Brunswick and New England. This bird, which closely 

 resembled the Eider-duck, was at one time as commonly dis- 

 played in American markets as Mallard or Wigeon are in 

 England. Suddenly the supply ceased, and inquiry soon showed 

 that it had ceased for ever. Those who had so long found its 

 capture profitable had not wit enough to see that the policy 

 pursued of plundering the nests and mercilessly shooting the 

 birds, must soon end in putting an end to this source of income, 

 the wretched victims being flightless, and therefore restricted 

 as to their breeding area. About thirty-eight specimens are 

 all that are known to exist in museums. 



A similar case is that of the largest known species of Cor- 

 morant {P halacrocorax perspicillatus), which, according to Dr. 

 Steijneger, became extinct about the middle of the nineteenth 

 century. This bird was formerly abundant in Behring Island 

 in the North Pacific, but was exterminated by incessant 

 slaughter for the purposes of food, though one would hardly 

 have supposed that Cormorant, in any shape, would prove a 

 sufficiently palatable dish to bring about the extinction of the 

 bird. Only four skins and a tew bones are all that remain of 

 this bird. 



Finally let us take the case of the giant flightless Moa of 

 New Zealand. " Although Moas were still numerous," says 

 Mr. F. A. Lucas, the distinguished American Ornithologist, 

 " when man made his appearance in this part of the world, the 



