54 THE AZPYORNIS MAXIMUS. 



the largest of known eggs. It is only within the last thirty 

 years that a few of the eggs have been discovered in the 

 southern portions of the island. These have the capacity or 

 contents of six or seven ostrich eggs, or of one hundred and 

 forty-eight eggs of the common fowl. At first nothing but 

 some fragments of bone were discovered together with the 

 eggs, and many were the speculations of naturalists as to the 

 size and nature of the bird laying such an egg. One learned 

 professor supposed it to be that of a gigantic penguin ; 

 another, that of an enormous bird of prey, surpassing the 

 condor in size, and representing the roc of Arabian romance, 

 and the rukh of Marco Polo's description. Professor Owen, 

 however, with M. St. Hilaire, refers the egg to a three-toed 

 species of terrestrial or struthious bird, allied to the Dinornis 

 of New Zealand, and probably somewhat less in height and 

 size. About ten years ago, M. Grandidier discovered leg- 

 bones and some vertebras of the bird, from which it seems 

 clear that the JEpyornis was about the height of an ostrich, 

 but more robust and massive in the legs and feet. Since 

 then, remains of two other and smaller species have been 

 discovered : one the height of a cassowary, and the other 

 that of a bustard ; so that it appears probable that Mada- 

 gascar was formerly tenanted by as numerous and varied a 

 family of rukhs as New Zealand was of moas. A diagram 

 will show more clearly than any description the size of the 

 egg as compared with those of other well-known birds. The 

 larger axis of the egg is 1 2^- inches, the shorter g% inches. Mr. 

 Wallace says, but I do not know on what authority, that 

 "there is reason to believe that the JEpyornis may have 

 lived less than two hundred years ago ; " unless indeed he 

 considers that Marco Polo's account may be granted as 

 founded on fact, when he writes : " The people of Madagascar 

 report that at certain seasons of the year an extraordinary 

 kind of bird, which they call a ' rukh,' makes its appearance 

 from the southern region'' It seems quite possible that the 

 bird was living at that time ; while in the earlier ages the 

 immense egg may easily have given rise to the Arabian 

 stories of a bird of such gigantic size that it could carry an 

 elephant in its talons, and had wings stretching over thirty 



