118 ANIMALS OF THE PAST 



But if Nature deprived these birds of wings, she 

 made ample amends in the matter of legs, those of 

 some species, the Elephant-footed Moa, Pachyornis 

 elephantopus, for example, being so massively built as 

 to cause one to wonder what the owner used them for, 

 although the generally accepted theory is that they 

 were used for scratching up the roots of ferns on which 

 the Moas are believed to have fed. And if a blow from 

 an irate ostrich is sufficient to fell a man, what must 

 have been the kicking power of an able-bodied Moa? 

 Beside this bird the ostrich would appear as slim and 

 graceful as a gazelle beside a prize ox. 



The Moas were confined to New Zealand, some species 

 inhabiting the North Island, some the South, very few 

 being common to both, and from these peculiarities of 

 distribution geologists deduce that at some early period 

 in the history of the earth the two islands formed one, 

 that later on the land subsided, leaving the islands 

 separated by a strait, and that since this subsidence 

 there has been sufficient time for the development of the 

 species peculiar to each island. Although Moas were 

 still numerous when man made his appearance in this 

 part of the world, the large deposits of their bones indi- 

 cate that they were on the wane, and that natural 

 causes had already reduced the feathered population of 

 these islands. A glacial period is believed to have 

 wrought their destruction, and in one great morass, 

 abounding in springs, their bones occur in such enor- 

 mous numbers, layer upon layer, that it is thought the 

 birds sought the place where the flowing springs might 

 afford their feet at least some respite from the biting 

 cold, and there perished miserably by thousands. 



What Nature spared man finished, and legends of 

 Moa hunts and Moa feasts still lingered among the 

 Moaris when the white man came and began in turn the 



