THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 245 



Another colossal bird, the Epiornis, which formerly 

 lived in Madagascar, must have been of even greater size. 

 One of its eggs, which is now in the museum at Paris, is 

 six times as large as that of the ostrich, and it has been 

 calculated that to fill the cavity would require 12,000 



] 47. Comparative Dimensions of Birds' Eggs. 1, That of tlie Epiornis. 2, Of the Ostrich. 

 3, Of the Hen. 4, Of the Hummiug-hird. 



humming-birds' eggs. Its shell, tAvo millimetres (0'78742 

 inch) thick, could only be broken by a blow with a hammer. 

 What strength then must the beak of the young bird have 

 possessed to be able to make a hole in it ! 



What diflTerences also in strength are found in birds ! 



When fleeing l:)efore the hunter, whose Arab steed presses 

 it closer and closer, the alarmed and furious ostrich tears 

 the soil of the desert, clinging to it, and leaving deep marks 

 beneath each footstep, while it launches afar a cloud of 

 sand and pebbles. When, on the contrary, a flock of 

 humming-birds, attracted by the expanded and floating 

 flowers of the Eoyal Victoria, play and gleam round them 

 like a casket of topazes and rubies struck by the rays of 

 the sun, neither the smooth sin^facc of the lake nor the 

 beautiful flowers are in the least degree disturbed. And 



