238 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 





three liunclred species are recognized, divided by some writers into many genera, all 

 having agreeably colored |>luinagc, and many arc clothed in feathers of most brilliant 

 and opposite hues, varied in ininierotis instances with bright metallic coloration. 

 The general foiTn of the pigeon is rounded and heavy for the size of the birds, the 

 flesh plump and tender, affording excellent food for man. The order Columbie may 

 properly be divideil into live families, — Carpophagid;e, Colunibida,', Gourid;e, Didun- 

 culidie, and Didiidie. The last diffei-s in so many respects, however, that it might 

 with some ])ropriety l)e advanced to a sulj-order. The Didiidae is first to be consid- 

 ered in reversing the arrangement given above, as in an ascending scale they occupy 

 the lowest rank. 



There are two authenticated species of the family Diihid.e, representing, however, 

 very distinct genera, viz., the familiar dodo, Didus inep(us, of the islands of Uodriguez, 



Bourbon, and Mauritius; and 

 the. solitaire, I'czopluips soU- 

 tariu, also of Rodriguez and 

 Mauritius. Both of these 

 curious and gigantic birds 

 .are now e.xtinct. A second 

 species of dodo was described 

 as I>. mazarciiug, from a met- 

 atarsal bone, but it is now 

 considered, at least by some 

 naturalists, doubtful if this 

 remnant, although much lar- 

 ger than similar bones of 

 IJ. iiicptus, really does rejire- 

 sent a distinct species. The 

 dodo was a huge ungainly 

 bird, ineap.able of flight, .and 

 weighing between forty and 

 fifty ])ounds. It was quite 

 abundant in Mauritius in the 

 commencement of the 17th 

 century, and great numbers 

 were killed by sailors for 

 food. The testimony given 

 as to the <pudity of its fle.sh 

 varies somewhat, but the ver- 

 dict wouhl a|ipear to be that it was not very palatable. A live bird was in London in 

 1638, and its portrait was taken by several artists, the pictures being ])reserved to-day 

 in different museums in England and on the continent. In 1G44 the Dutch introduced 

 dogs and hogs into the island, and these, by destroying the young of the dodo, prob- 

 ably contributed greatly towards its e.\termination, and in 1693 or thereabout these 

 curious binls became extinct. But few remains of the dodo are preserved, only one 

 or two nearly perfect skeletons and a numl)er of different bones, the majority of 

 which were discovered in a small swamp in the island of ^lauritius, called la Mare aitx 

 iSo)if/es. 



From a careful study and comi>arison of these remains it is proved that this 



V 



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KlU. U3. — JJuius iufptuii, iXwUt. 



