228 STRA Y FEA THERS FROM MANY BIRDS. 



tained its powers of flight, by swimming less and flying 

 more, there can be little doubt that it would have been a 

 living and a flourishing species to-day, instead of an 

 extinct one whose memory is preserved only by a few 

 scattered relics in the shape of skins, skeletons, and egg- 

 shells, and whose habits and economy are little better 

 known than by tradition. The curious Dodo, which 

 formerly inhabited the Island of Mauritius, has long been 

 extinct, killed off by early explorers and settlers. Like 

 the Great Auk, this bird was also incapable of flight, and 

 paid the penalty of its former indolence with complete 

 extermination. The Dodo was one of the few modern 

 links with an ancient avifauna long passed away, and 

 every naturalist must regret the fate which has overtaken 

 this interesting bird. The Solitaire Pigeon, once an in- 

 habitant of Rodriguez, and the &rrot(Lopkopsittacus} of 

 Mauritius have also become extinct within comparatively 

 modern times ; whilst the Crested Starling has perished 

 even more recently still. The civilization and coloniza- 

 tion of New Zealand have been the death-kneli for several 

 interesting birds, among which may be mentioned the 

 Moas. New Zealand once contained such birds standing 

 from ten to thirteen feet high, in comparison with which 

 the Ostrich of our time would seem but a dwarf. 



There can be little doubt that volcanic eruptions, the 

 submergence of land, tornadoes, earthquakes, and floods 

 have caused the extinction of many species in past ages* 



