THE PEDIGREE OF BIRDS 



357 



the Moa (Dinornis) of New Zealand suggests that terrestrial 

 flightless birds express a dangerous contradiction in terms. 

 The giant i^pyornis of Madagascar disappeared long ago. 



There are two views of Running Birds, (a) On one 

 view, they are primitive, old-fashioned forms, which never 

 had flying wings nor a keel on their breastbone, {b) On the 

 other view, they are creatures that have gone back and have 

 become secondarily wingless. Thus Professor W. K. 

 Parker spoke of them as " overgrown, degenerate birds that 



Fig. 54.— The Kiwi or Apteryx of New Zealand, with quite rudimentary 



wings. 



were once on the right road for becoming flying fowl, but, 

 through greediness or idleness, never reached the ' goal ' — 

 went back, indeed, and lost their sternal keel, and almost 

 lost their unexercised wings." 



(fl) In support of the view that the Ratitae represent a 

 somewhat primitive stock that never attained to flight, it 

 may be noticed that they betray a certain old-fashionedness 

 in some of their features. Thus there are no regularly 

 arranged feather-tracts or pteiylae, there is no ploughshare- 



