Cu. [.] OF THE DODO. Bi) 
the crude and profane ideas entertamed by Buffon and his disciples, one of whom calls the 
Dodo “un oiseau bizarre, dont toutes les parties portaient le caractére d’ une conception 
manquée.” He fancies that this imperfection was the result of the youthful impatience of the 
newly-formed volcanic islands which gave birth to the Dodo, and implies that a steady old 
continent would have produced a much better article (Bory St. Vincent, Voy. aux Isles des 
Mers d’ Afrique. vol. il. p. 305. vol. iii. p. 169). 
Section [V.—Affinities of the Dodo—Not allied to the Grallatorial or Natatorial orders; nor to the 
Rasores ; nor to the Raptores—Opinions of Vigors ; of De Blainville ; of La Fresnaye ; of Gould ; 
of Gray ; of Broderip ; of Owen—Affinity of the Dodo to the Pigeons, proved by numerous agreements 
of structure. 
WE now approach the most difficult part of our subject, viz., to determine, from such im- 
perfect data as history and anatomy present, the affinities of the Dodo to other generic forms 
in the class of Birds. Now it is evident, at first sight, that the Dodo is a very anomalous 
and exceptional animal ; in the language of systematists, it forms a very isolated genus, far 
removed from the large groups in which the more prevalent arrangements of ornithic struc- 
ture are displayed ; just as its native island is intermediate between Asia and Africa, and can 
hardly be referred to either continent. We must not, therefore, expect to discover any very 
close or satisfactory affinities between the Dodo and other birds. All that we can do is to 
seek for those other generic forms to which, in the majority, or rather the preponderance of 
its characters, it makes the nearest approach. 
The most prominent characteristic of the Dodo is manifestly its inability to fly, in con- 
sequence of the shortness of its wings. This is an exceptional peculiarity which occurs in 
only three families of existing birds,—the Penguins, the Auks, and the Ostriches. It is, 
therefore, natural to inquire whether the imperfectly developed wings of the Dodo indicate an 
affinity to any of these families. Now the Penguins are the most completely aquatic of all 
birds, their feathers are almost reduced into the condition of scales, and their wings are 
practically converted into fins, while the palmated and plantigrade feet at once prove their 
entire disconnection from the type of the Dodo. The Auks, of which a single species, A/ca 
mmpennis, has the wings too short for flight, while the other species of the group are. volatile, 
represent geographically in the northern hemisphere, the Penguins of the southern, and are 
equally remote from the bird before us. The Struthious birds make a somewhat nearer 
approach to the Dodo, in the rudimental nature of their plumage, but their long legs and 
neck, the comparatively feeble beak, the absence, or very slight development, of the hallux, and 
numerous other peculiarities, prove them to be modifications of the Grallatorial order, and by 
no means nearly allied to the Dodo. The apparently similar texture of plumage in the Ostriches 
and the Dodo (so far as we are acquainted with the latter), does not necessarily indicate any 
affinity ; for a terrestrial bird of whatever order, if deprived of the means of flight, would, of 
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