388 



PIGEONS AND SAA^D-GROUSE. 



Dodo. 



Whitmee, from which it appears that the bird now feeds mainly on trees, whereas 

 it formerly procured its food on the ground : — " I did not attribute much 

 importance to that fact, says the observer, because the bird being wary, I thought 

 its destruction by wild cats to be chiefly in the night when roosting, or when on 

 the nest during the process of incubation, while rats would also destroy the eggs 

 or young in the nest. Hence, I did not see how a change in the place of feeding 

 could alone account for the increase of the bird. I therefore made particular 

 inquiries from natives as to its roosting ; and from the information thus procured 

 I believe the Didunculi almost invariably now roost upon the high branches of 

 trees instead of upon low stumps as formerly." The nest is so rarely found, that 

 few opportunities occur of learning where it is built; but it appeal's that it is 

 generally situated in the fork of a tree, and that the eggs are white ; although 

 formerly the bird nested on the ground. Verging some years ago on extinction, 

 from the assumption of arboreal habits, the Samoan tooth-billed pigeon is now 

 increasing rapidly in numbers. 



Dodo and Solitaire. 



Family DlDID^. 



The dodo and its near ally the solitaire are recently exterminated 

 members of the order, characterised by their very large size and 

 massive build, accompanied by a total incapacity for flight. This group was 

 entirely confined to the islands of Mauritius, Reunion, and Rodriguez. A native 



of Mauritius, and the sole repre- 

 sentative of its genus, the dodo 

 (Didus ineptus), in size was 

 somewhat larger than a swan, 

 with rudimental wings, and a 

 tail composed of short curly 

 feathers. The beak was very 

 large and hooked, the body 

 remarkably heavy, and the legs 

 and feet short and stout. Large, 

 clumsy, and defenceless, the dodo 

 was a bird marked out for early 

 destruction ; and soon after its 

 discovery it fell a prey to sailors, 

 and the animals introduced by 

 them into its island-home. A 

 few scattered relics of stuflfed 

 specimens, together with bones dug up from the peat of Mauritius, are all that 

 are left of this bird ; but fortunately a good idea of its appearance is given in 

 several contemporary pictures. It was discovered by Admiral Van Neck in 1598, 

 and was still abundant in 1601, and it was known to be living eighty years later, 

 although by 1691 it appears to have been exterminated. An allied bird inhabited 

 Reunion, but its afiinities will probably remain unknown. 



