434 'The Bird 



the three groups chararterized by the curious elephant- 

 /> f. footed, often gigantic nioas, and similar birds of Mada- 

 u """^^^K^ gascar, Mauritius, New Zealand, and the Papuan region, 

 C D ^which have become extinct within the historic period, 



J> except the kiwis, to be spoken of later. All of these, 

 py^ ' so far as we know, laid only one egg at a time, which^ 

 ^ /^ })lainly enough, was sufhcient to keep the race going in 



the limited space afforded to each species by its island, 

 but which did not suffice to prevent an almost immediate 

 extinction of these species as soon as mankind discovered 

 that the birds and their eggs were serviceable. But Provi- 

 dence, or Nattire, or natural selection, or whatever has 

 been the ruling influence in determining means and limits 

 for animal life, seems never to have taken man into ac- 

 count. 



"Turning now to the sea-birds — penguins, gannets, 

 murres, puffins, auks, petrels, giullemots, tropic-birds, 

 and the like, — we find that none of them is in the habit 

 of laying more than one egg, as all breed on such remote 

 and inaccessible rocks, often in holes, that harm can 

 rarely happen to their yotmg, and therefore a veiy high 

 percentage comes to maturity. Many of these breed in 

 companies, and are so unacquainted with danger that 

 they make no attempt to hide their eggs or to leave the 

 nest when the ]:)lace is visited by some wandering natu- 

 ralist or egging party. 



''The habit of the King Penguin deserves a note to 

 itself. This big Antarctic bird guards its one white egg 

 from harm by carrying it somewhat as a marsupial does 

 its young, in a pouch formed by a fold of the skin of the 



