EXHUMING THE MOA 



above, leaving us room to work ; then by means of our 

 knives, we carefully whittled away the clay, taking 

 out the fossils. I never dreamed that one could be- 

 come so interested in " dry bones." Hundreds of the 

 largest birds that ever 

 existed must have per- 

 ished and been covered 

 up here. Some of 

 the single bones were 

 longer than my leg, 

 and thick as my knee. 

 All parts of the ani- 

 mals were found ; toes, 

 ribs, vertebrae, skulls, 

 sternums, leg bones, 

 and even the small, 

 horny rings of the 

 windpipe, all in excel- 

 lent condition. To- 

 gether with these, we 

 discovered the remains 

 of a gigantic eagle, 

 which lived with the 



MOA AND MAN. 



Moa, and must have 

 been buried at the same time. We came across 

 numerous pieces of charcoal, plainly indicating that 

 fire had driven the birds to this place, where they had 

 perished, probably killing one another in their frantic 



