66 The Dodo and its Kindred. 



secluded places. It resembles a turkey, but has longer legs. 

 * The beauty of its plumage is delightful to behold. It is a 

 changeable color, which verges upon yellow. The flesh is ex- 

 quisite ; two of these shipped for the king of France, soon died 



of melancholy, having refused to eat or drink." Not long after 



Carre's visit, M. de la Haye, with colonists from Madagascar, 

 visited Bourbon, and a gentleman of his party confirms the above 

 account, but gives proof of a second species of brevipennate birds 

 having inhabited these islands. 



" Solitaires. — They are of the size of a large goose — white and 

 black on the tips of the wings and tail ; the tail feathers resemble 

 those of an ostrich ; the neck is long and the beak like that of a 

 woodcock, but larger; the legs and feet are like those of turkeys. 

 This bird has recourse to running, as it flies very little. 



" Oisseaux Mens, the size of Solitaires — plumage wholly blue 



■beak and feet red, resembling the plumage of a hen. They 

 do not fly, but they run extremely fast, so that a dog can hardly 

 overtake them ; they are very good eating." 



The following conclusions are drawn by Mr. Strickland, 



1. That a brevipennate bird, distinct from the Dodo of Mauri- 

 tius, and from the so-called Solitaire of Rodriguez, formerly in- 

 habited the Isle of Bourbon, probably without powers of flight. 



2. A second brevipennate bird, the Oisseati bleu, was a native 

 of Bourbon — although from its speed in running it probably es- 

 caped the notice of the earlier voyagers. 



3. One species at least of the apterous birds survived in Bour- 

 bon, till about the middle of the last century. From the first 

 colonization of the island, the woods were filled with birds that 

 were not alarmed at the approach of man ; among these the Soli- 

 taire (erroneously called the Dodo) was pursued on foot. 



4. In 1763, there were still in Bourbon some curious birds 

 which never descended to the sea-side, and which were so tame 

 as to suffer themselves to be killed by the stroke of a walking 

 stick ; what they were is not known. 



5. A brevipennate bird inhabited Madagascar less than two 

 centuries ago. Flacourt, 1658, relates that the Vouron patra, a 

 large bird, frequented the S.E. of Madagascar; it lays eggs like 

 an ostrich — lives in desert places, and cannot be captured. • 



The three islands, Mauritius, Rodriguez and Bourbon — a 

 group whose members are indeed somewhat remote from each 

 other — were inhabited until the time of human colonization, by 

 at least four distinct but probably allied species of brevipennate 

 birds. An anal#gous case has been made out in New Zealand ;* 



* By Cotton, Williams, Colenso, Mantell, and others, with the aid of Owen's 

 eonwnnmate anatomical skill. A vast collection of bones has been recently ob- 

 tained with much toil and no small danger, by Mr. Walter Mantell, and sent to his 



it father. Dr. Gideon A. Mantell, who places them at Mr. Owen's disposal. 





emmen 



