FLAT-BREASTED BIRDS. 



235 



a single egg being deposited, that equals one fourth the 

 weight of the bird. The feet are powerful and adapted 

 for scratching.* A remarkable extinct form of this class 

 is the gigantic moa, of 

 New Zealand (Fig. 276), 

 that lived during the 

 time of the Maoris. The 

 largest (Dinorms gigan- 

 teus) attained a height 

 of nearly ten feet. The 

 limbs and bones were 

 larger than those of an 

 ox. The jEpyornis, an 

 extinct bird of Mada- 

 gascar, was an allied 

 form, and supposed by 

 many to be the roc of 

 the Arabian tales. Re- 

 mains of its eggs show 

 one to have been equal 

 to one hundred and fifty 

 hen's eggs. 



Ostrich (Struthio- 

 nidce). This family is 

 represented in South 

 America by the Rhea 



(Rhea Americana). It is about three and a half feet in 

 height, and differs from the ostrich in the possession of 

 three toes. The head and neck are covered with downy 

 gray feathers, those of the tail being absent. They live in 

 flocks on the pampas. The male excavates the nest, and 

 afterward sits upon the eggs, and, according to some au- 

 thorities, collects them when they are left scattered about 



* It is a curious fact that when sleeping these birds endeavor to 

 put the head under the wing, though the latter is entirely useless as 

 >uch a protection. 



FlG. 276. Wingless birds of New Zea- 

 land. The giant moa (Palapteryx) 

 and the tiny apteryx. The moa is no 

 longer to be found alive. 



