T h e D o d o 47 



and the Feathers are whiter there than the rest, which Hvehly 

 Represents the fine Neck of a Beautiful Woman. They 

 walk with so much Statehness and good Grace, that one 

 cannot help admiring and loving them ; by which means 

 their fine Mein often saves their lives. 



" Tho' these Birds will sometimes very familiarly come 

 up near enough to one, when we do not run after them, yet 

 they will never grow Tame. As soon as they are caught 

 they shed Tears without Crying, and refuse all manner of 

 Sustenance till they die. 



" We find in the Gizards of both Male and Female a 

 brown stone, of the bigness of a Hen's egg ; 'tis somewhat 

 rough, flat on one side, and round on the other, heavy and 

 hard. We believe this stone was there when they were 

 hatch'd, for let them be never so young, you meet with it 

 always. They have never but one of 'em, and besides, 

 the Passage from the Craw to the Gizard is so narrow, 

 that a like Mass of half the bigness cou'd not pass. It 

 served to whet our knives, better than any other Stone 

 whatsoever. 



" When these Birds build their Nests, they choose a clean 

 Place, gather together some Palm-Leaves for that purpose, 

 and heap them up a foot and a half high from the Ground, 

 on which they sit. They never lay but one Egg, which is 

 much bigger than that of a Goose. The Male and Female 

 both cover it in their turns, and the young is not hatch'd 

 till at seven Weeks end. All the while they are sitting 

 upon it or are bringing up their young one, which is not 

 able to provide for its self in several Months, they will not 

 suffer any other Bird of their Species to come within two 

 hundred yards round of the Place : But what is very 

 singular is. The Males will never drive away the Females, 

 only when he perceives one he makes a noise with his 

 Wings to call the Female, and she drives the un- 

 welcome Stranger away, not leaving it till 'tis without her 



