FEATHERED GIANTS 145 



bearing away an elephant in its talons, while 

 the iEpyornis has shed its wings and shrunk 

 to dimensions little larger than an ostrich, but 

 this is the inevitable result of closer acquaint- 

 ance and the application of a two-foot rule. 



Like the Moa the ^pyornis seems to have 

 lived in tradition long after it became extinct, 

 for a French history of Madagascar, published 

 as early as 1658 makes mention of a large bird, 

 or kind of ostrich, said to inhabit the southern 

 end of the island. Still, in spite of bones hav- 

 ing been found that bear evident traces of the 

 handiwork of man, it is possible that this and 

 other reports were due to the obvious necessity 

 of having some bird to account for the pres- 

 ence of the eggs. 



The actual introduction of the ^pyornis to 

 science took place in 1834, when a French 

 traveller sent Jules Verreaux, the ornithologist, 

 a sketch of a huge egg, saying that he had 

 seen two of that size, one sawed in twain to 

 make bowls, the other, traversed by a stick, 

 serving in the preparation of rice uses some- 

 what in contrast with the proverbial fragility 

 of egg-shells. A little later another traveller 



