THE OOLOGIST. 



23 



waders on a tidal shore, in a stratum 2,000 

 foot (hick iu the Connecticut valley, do not 

 indicate,! believe, a frnnie as large r.s that of 

 the Moa. Professor Owen says 12 feet high. 

 But of these American Ornithicnites I do 

 not speak. M. Geoffroy Saiut-Hilaire says 

 the M idagascar bird approaches the Dinor- 

 nis, as a species, but is gcnerically distinct, 

 in which Professor Owen also agrees. Vide 

 Owen's PaUrontology, p. 80, one of the most 

 valuable works of the present day. 



To both fabulous qualities have been as- 

 signed, such as killing and eating an ox in 

 the former case, and devouring the Maori 

 children in the latter — they were, however* 

 vegetable feeders. It is possible the Dinor- 

 nis may have lived upon the Tutu (pro- 

 nounced Toot) which, on first coming up, 

 resembles asparagus, a kind of fern common 

 in New Zealand and much esteemed by 

 sheep. (Butler's Canterbury Settlement, 

 p. 97.) Its claws have been thought well 

 adapted for tearing np roots of fern. I 

 think it very likely that fire exterminated 

 the Moa, as has been said. Man has very 

 nearly, if not quite, cleared off the Gare 

 fowl, Alca impennis. 



The Dodo, Didus inepVus, also, probably 

 came to an end from man's voracity; while 

 cats are said to be rapidly turning the Dodo- 

 like or tooth-billed pigeon of the Navigator 

 Isles, Didunculus Strigirostris, into an 

 extinct species. I trust the zeal of British 

 ornithologists will not allow this form to go 

 out of the world without retaining speci- 

 mens of its skins, bones, and eggs, for the 

 use of future generations — a duty we owe to 

 them: science suffers from the negligence 

 of our ancestors, which reflection should stil- 

 us up in our generation; we must, however 

 be quick. The Apteryx only lingers, while 

 even the Emeu Dromuus Novse Hollandiae 

 is greatly diminished in numbers. Races of 

 birds and animals, like those of men, hav- 

 ing served their appointed time in the course 

 of nature, by nature's laws are doomed to 

 depart and thus demonstrate the temporary 

 character of all the productions of this earth. 

 The first Paris egg was discovered in 1850 

 by M. Abadie, capitaine d'un navire 

 marchand, in harbour at Madagascar, on 



the S. \V. coast of the island. This was 

 perforated at the end and used by a native 

 for domestic purposes. Soon after, 



another perfect specimen of nearly equal 

 volume, taken from the bed of a torrent, 

 in the remains of a small landslip came to 

 light from the N. W. extremity. Later, a 

 third and some bones, were discovered in 

 a recent formation. This last egg was un- 

 fortunately smashed on the voyage to Paris, 

 where the three were sent by M. Malavois, a 

 French gentleman of the Isle, of Reunion 

 or Burbon, who received them from 

 Madagascar. My egg was found at Man- 

 auzari on the E. coast (this is not Manan- 

 hari farther North on the same side) at a 

 depth of forty five-feet in a hill of ferrugin- 

 ous clay, 'dans le terrain diluvien,' by 

 Malgaches when digging for an iron mine, 

 and was sent to the Mauritius and thence to 

 in 1858 to Paris, by Messrs. Thomas 

 Lachambre & Co. of that island. Circum- 

 stances caused it to fall into the possession 

 of M. J. F. Brunet, secretary to the French 

 Charitable Association, London, for whom 

 Professor Tennant undertook to dispose 

 of it. To both these gentlemen I am in- 

 debted, for their readiness to furnish me 

 with all the information in their power. 

 Some bones are said to have been found 

 with the egg, but they were unfortunately 

 broken before they were taken out. This I 

 the more regret, because the fragments at 

 Paris are so very imperfect. The surface is 

 much s tained ^vith clay, consequently the fine 

 lustre, which I suppose it originally had, 

 has vanished. The colour was probably 

 the same when first laid, as that of the 

 Ostrich, Struthio camelus, viz. a pale yel- 

 low white. In granulation it resembles 

 South African specimens of the same bird, 

 but the indentations are vastly coarser and 

 larger, The very marked difference be- 

 tween the eggs of the North and South 

 African Ostrich in size and granulation, 

 was first pointed out by my friend the Rev. 

 H. B. Trixtram in The Ibis, but it is not yet 

 determined, I believe, if these two birds 

 form distinct species or only races, or either. 

 Nature has taken care to wrap up the egg of 

 the .ZEpyornis maximus in a shell of the 



