382 INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY, 



Mr. Darwin, in speaking of another species (Puffinus 

 cinereus), which is common to Cape Horn and the Coast of 

 Peru, as well as to Europe, remarks, " I do not think I ever 

 saw so many birds of any other sort together, as I once saw 

 of these behind the Island of Chiloe (off the west coast of 

 Patagonia); hundreds of thousands flew in an irregular line 

 for several hours in one direction. When part of the flock 

 settled on the water, the surface was blackened, and a noise 

 proceeded from them, as of human beings talking in the 

 distance. At this time the water was in parts coloured by 

 clouds of small Crustacea."* 



Of the multitude of birds of one species that occasionally 

 assemble together, examples have been given in the Starling 

 (p. 352), the Passenger Pigeon (p. 365), and the Quail 

 (p. 366) ; we have here another instance of the same remark- 

 able fact, the birds themselves belonging to a different order, 

 inhabiting a different region, and seeking their appointed food 

 on the sea instead of the land. 



If we turn from the birds now living, to the consideration 

 of those that are extinct, we find their remains are much less 

 numerous than those of fishes, reptiles, or quadrupeds. ' ' Their 

 powers of flight, ' ' as Mr. Lyell remarks, ' i insure them against 

 perishing by numerous casualties to which quadrupeds are 

 exposed during floods; and, if they chance to be drowned, or 

 die when swimming on the water, it will scarcely ever happen 

 that they will be submerged so as to be preserved in a sedi- 

 mentary deposit, "f This is easily accounted for when we 

 consider, that, from the tubular structure of the bones, and 

 the quantity of feathers, their bodies are extremely buoyant, 

 and most generally float on the surface of the water until they 

 rot away or are devoured. Yet, among the fossils of the 

 London clay, and of the Paris basin, are those of several 

 birds, specifically different from any that now exist. 



There is one species recently extinct, but known by the 

 descriptions of navigators about two centuries ago, by parts 

 of the body preserved in different collections, and by paintings 

 in the British Museum and elsewhere. It was called the Dodo, 

 and was a native of the Mauritius. Its figure was massive; 

 its weight, perhaps, forty-five or fifty pounds, and its wings so 

 short as to be useless for flight. Much difference of opinion 



* Journal. 



t Principles of Geology, vol. iii. 



