580 



CENOZOIC TIME. 



norms) and other birds of New Zealand, the Dodo and some of its 

 associates on Mauritius and the adjoining islands in the Indian Ocean ; 



Fig. 955. Fig. 956. 



Human skeleton, from Guadaloupe. Conglomerate, containing coins. 



the ^Epyot-nis of Madagascar. The species are of the half-fledged kind, 

 like the Ostrich. Fig. 957 (copied from Strickland's " Dodo and its 

 Kindred ") is from a painting at Vienna, made by Roland Savery in 

 1628. 



The Dodo was a large, clumsy bird, some fifty pounds in weight, with loose, downy 

 plumage, and wings no more perfect than those of a young chicken. The Dutch navi- 

 gators found it in great numbers, in the seventeenth century. But, after the possession 

 of the island by the French, in 1712, nothing more is heard of the Dodo; a head, two 

 feet and a cranium are all that is left, except some pictures in the works of the Dutch 

 voyagers. 



The Solitaire is another exterminated bird, of the same island. 



The Moa {Dinornis giganteus Owen), of New Zealand, exceeded the Ostrich in size, 

 being ten to twelve feet in height. The tibia (drumstick) of the bird was thirty to 

 thirty-two inches in length; and the eggs so large that " a hat would make a good egg- 

 cup for them." The bones were found along with charred wood, showing that the 

 birds had been killed and eaten by the natives. The name Dinornis is from Sen-os, ter- 

 rible, and opias, bird. 



Besides the Dinornis giganteus, remains of other extinct species of the genus have 

 been found ; also extinct species of Palapteryx and Notornis. Palapteryx is related to 

 Apteryx ; and both Apteryx and Notornis have living species. 



On Madagascar, other species of this family of gigantic birds formerly existed. 

 Three species have been made out of the genus JEpyornis. From the bones of the leg, 

 one is supposed to have been at least twelve feet in height. The egg was thirteen and 

 a half inches in its longest diameter. 



The Great Auk of the North Sea (Alca imptnnis Linn.) is reported to be an extinct 

 bird, by Professor Steenstrup. The last known to have been seen were two taken 

 near Iceland, in 1844. The bones occur in great numbers, on the shores of Iceland, 

 Greenland and Denmark, showing that it was once a common bird; and its remains 

 have been found also on the coasts of Labrador, Maine, and eastern Massachusetts. They 



