Febkuaby 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



23 



only by its pied plumage, liut liliewise by the presence of 

 :i coat of feathers' on the head, is said to liave been very 

 l)old and confiding in its disposition, and is believed to 

 have been exterminated about fifty years ago. 



Within the last few years a species of ke-ke parrot 

 {Xi'stor productu-:), formerly inh.ibiting Phillip Island, near 

 New Zealand, is likewise believed to have become extinct. 



Our next species is one which may possibly be still 

 existing, although, if so, it must be of extreme rarity. 

 This is the gigantic blue coot (Xotoniia Mantdli) of New 

 Zealand, which is almost the sole representative of its 

 genus, although it has near allies in tho purple water- 

 hens {Pnrjtlu/rio}. This huge flightless bird was first made 

 known to science oa the evidence of some bones obtained 

 from the volcanic sands of Waingongoro, in the North 

 Island, and described by Sir R. Owen as bslonging to an 

 extinct form. Their discoverer, Mr. W. Mautell, succeeded, 

 however, in obtaining the skin of an example which had 

 been caught alive and eaten by some sealers in the South 

 Island, some time in 1877 ; this skin, together with that 

 of the second specimen, being now mounted in the British 

 Museum. The second living specimen was taken in 

 1SG9, and a third in 1881, both in the South Island; but 

 wlietherany others still survive is more than doiibtful. As 

 the fossilized remains of this species are not uncommon 

 in the superficial deposits of both islands, wo may probably 

 refer its extinction in the North Island, and its extreme 

 rarity in the South, to the Maories. If it still linger it is 

 probable that wild pigs, dogs, or cats will ere long put a 

 term to its existence. An allied species (.V. (lUma), dis- 

 tinguished by its plumage, formerly inhabited Norfolk and 

 Lord Howe Islands, but is now extinct. 



With the great auk, or gare fowl, we come to a species 

 completely exterminated in modern times, and of which 

 the accounts are fairly complete. This bird, the largest 

 member of its genus, and totally unable to fly, was 

 restricted to the shores of the North Atlantic, ranging in 

 Europe from Iceland in the north to the Bay of Biscay in 

 the south, while in America it extended from Greenland 

 to Virginia. These southern limits mark, however, only 

 the winter range of the species, which was somewhat 

 migratory in its habits. Its breeding-places were but few, 

 the chief being the rock called Geirfuglasker off the coast 

 of Iceland, and Funk Island on the Newfoundland coast ; 

 both these spots being bare, barren rocks very difficult of 

 access. In spite of its slow increase ( but a single egg being 

 laid at a time), the great auk existed in countless numbers 

 on Funk Island, where it was discovered by Gartier in 1.531. 

 Here for nearly two centuries it formed an unfailing food- 

 supply for all vessels visiting the neighbouring seas ; and 

 it might have lived till now had not the custom arisen of 

 men being landed on the island to spend the summer in 

 slaying these birds foi the sake of their feathers. It is 

 said, indeed, that the auks were actually killed by millions, 

 being first driven into stone enclosures, and then bludgeoned. 

 When the bird disappeared from the American side is not 

 quite clear, although it was probably somewhere about the 

 year 1810. Four years later it had also ceased to exist 

 on the opposite side of the Atlantic, the last European 

 pair having been killed in the summer of 1841. What 

 led to its rapid and final extermination in Europe was 

 the sudden subsidence of the Geirfuglasker in 1880, 

 which compelled the birds to seek other and more 

 accessible breeding-places, where they w-ere less protected 

 from molestation. The last British example was killed in 

 Waterford harbour in 1831. In addition to bones obt lined 

 from Funk Island, the great auk is now represenied in 

 collections only by some seventy-six skins, nine skeletons, 

 and sixty-eight eggshells. 



Before noticing the few remaining birds on our list, we 

 may refer to two South African mammals which are now 

 almost certainly extinct. The first of these is the fine 

 antelope known as the blaubok (HippatnuiUK li'm-d/j/nrwi), a 

 near ally of the handsome sable antelope and roan ante- 

 lope, characterized by their large scimitar-like an 1 back- 

 wardly-sweeping horns. Indeed, the roan antelopa is 

 often confounded with the blaubok, although the latter 

 was a considerably smaller and otherwise different species. 

 When the blaubok was killed off cannot now be 

 ascertained, but it was certainly abundant at the Cape in 

 the first half of this century. Unfortunately, the British 

 Museum has not a single specimen of this antelope, 

 although a head is preserved iu Paris. 



The second African mammal is the quagga (Eijuus 

 iiuai/i/a), a near relative of the zebras, but distinguished by 

 the hinder portion of the body being devoid of stripes. 

 This animal was described by Sir Cornwallis Harris in 

 1839 as existing in immense herds, although its distribu- 

 tion was always very local ; but of late years there is no 

 definite record of a single specimen having been seen. If, 

 as is probably the case, it is truly extinct, there is no 

 record of the date of its disappearance. Of the almost 

 total extermination of the square-mouthed rhinoceros, 

 mention has been already made. 



Curiously enough, the northern sea-cow was not the 

 only animal discovered on Behring Island in 1711, during 

 Behring's involuntary sojourn, which appears to have 

 since become extinct. This second species was Pallas's 

 cormorant {I'liahunicornx prrspicillatuti), the largest repre- 

 sentative of its genus, and distinguished by its lustrous 

 green and purple plumage, and the bare white spectacle- 

 like rings round the eyes. This bird, which weighed from 

 twelve to fourteen pounds, had small wings and was a 

 poor flyer, with a stupid, sluggish disposition. Steller 

 relates that it occurred in great numbers, and was exten- 

 sively used as food by the members of Behring's party. 

 About 1839, Captain Belcher, of the " Sulphur," received 

 as a great rarity a present of one of these fine birds from 

 the Governor of Sitka, by whom some other specimens 

 were sent to St. Petersburg ; but since that date nothing 

 has been heard of the species, which probably became 

 extinct within about a century of its discovery. Dr. 

 Stejnegar, who visited Behring Island in 1882, instituted 

 a careful search after this bird iu vain, although he was 

 rewarded by finding some of its bones buried in the soil. 

 The species is now represented only by four mounted 

 specimens, one of which is in our own national collection, 

 and a few bones. 



Another bird that appears to have become extinct within 

 the last half-century is the beautifixl black and golden 

 sickle-bill, or mamo {iJrepinuirnis pacifica), first brought to 

 Eurojie by Captain Cook after his discovery of the Sand- 

 wich Islands, to which group it was restricted. This bird 

 belonged to the family of honey- suckers, and was remark- 

 able for the length of its curved bill. The brilliant yellow 

 feathers from the back of the bird were used by the 

 Hawaiian chieftains in the manufacture of their gorgeous 

 feather-cloaks ; and as one particular cloak, according to 

 Mr. Scott Wilson, measures four feet in length and more 

 than eleven feet roimd the base, it may be imagined what a 

 number of birds of eight inches in length — and these only 

 yielding the particular feathers on the back — would be 

 required for its construction. Indeed, the manufacture of 

 this particular cloak is stated to have lasted through the 

 reigns of eight chieftains ; and it is to the destruction 

 thus caused that Mr. Wilson attributes the extinction of 

 this beautiful bird, now represented in our museums only 

 by some four stuffed examples. 



