FEATHERED GIANTS 145 
bearing away an elephant in its talons, while 
the Aupyornis 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 A‘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 Mpyornis 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 
