40 BIRD GALLERY. 



too small for flight, once inhabitants of the islands of Mauritius 

 and Eodriguez, but now extinct. Other cases on the right-hand 

 side of the gallery are occupied by the Game-Birds, and the 

 Wading and Swimming Birds. Here will be noticed a nearly 

 complete collection of the genera of Pheasants and Pigeons, 

 showing the various forms. Special attention may be drawn 

 to the Great Auk (ng. 14), from the Northern Seas, which 

 became extinct only in the last century. Casts of the eggs of 

 this curious bird are also exhibited. A case in the 7th Bay 

 contains a series of Penguins, flightless birds which may be 

 regarded as representing the Auks and Guillemots in the 

 southern oceans. Particularly interesting is the great Emperor 

 Penguin, which lays its eggs and rears its young amidst the 

 icy surroundings of the Antarctic. The specimens exhibited 

 were obtained during the British Antarctic Expedition of 

 1839-43, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Eoss. 

 Other noteworthy types are the Great Bustard, once an 

 inhabitant of England, and the Flamingo. A pair of the latter 

 is exhibited with their nest. 



In the first two bays on the right side of the gallery are placed 

 specimens of the peculiar division of birds called Eatitse, from 

 the flat or raft-like character of the breast-bone. Owing to 

 the rudimentary character of their wings, these Birds have 

 not the power of raising themselves in flight. They 

 include the largest existing Birds, the Ostriches, Emus, and 

 Cassowaries, as well as the small Kiwis or Apteryx of New 

 Zealand, together with the extinct Moas of the same country, 

 and the Eoc {u^pyornis) of Madagascar. A fossil egg of the 

 latter is placed alongside eggs of the existing species of the 

 group. 

 Groups of Down the middle line of the gallery, as well as in many 



^^^rt t '"^^ °^ *^® bays, are placed groups showing the nesting-habits 

 of the best-known British birds. The great value of these 

 groups consists in their absolute truthfulness. The sur- 

 roundings are not selected by chance or imagination, but 

 in every case are carefully-executed reproductions of those that 

 were present round the individual nest. When it has been 

 possible, the actual rocks, trees, or grass, have been preserved, 

 and where these were of a perishable nature they have been 



