GIANT BIRDS.
"To discover order and intelligence in scenes of apparent
wildness and confusion is the pleasing task of the geological
inquirer."--Dr. Paris.
Of all the monsters that ever lived on the face of the earth, the
giant birds were perhaps the most grotesque. An emu or a cassowary of
the present day looks sufficiently strange by the side of ordinary
birds; but "running birds" much larger than these flourished not so
very long ago in New Zealand and Madagascar, and must at one time have
inhabited areas now sunk below the ocean waves.
The history of the discovery of these remarkable and truly gigantic
birds in New Zealand, and the famous researches of Professor Owen, by
which their structures have been made known, must now engage our
attention.
In the year 1839 Professor Owen exhibited, at a meeting of the
Zoological Society, part of a thigh-bone, or femur, 6 inches in
length, and 5-1/2 inches in its smallest circumference, with both
extremities broken off. This bone of an unknown struthious bird was
placed in his hands for examination, by Mr. Rule, with the statement
that it was found in New Zealand, where the natives have a tradition
that it belonged to a bird now extinct, to which they give the name
Moa. Similar bones, it was said, were found buried on the banks of the
rivers.
A minute description of this bone was given by the professor, who
pointed out the peculiar interest of this discovery on account of the
remarkable character of the existing fauna of New Zealand, which still
includes one of the most extraordinary birds of the struthious order
("running birds"), viz. the Apteryx, and also because of the close
analogy which the event indicated by the present relic offers to the
extinction of the Dodo in the island of Mauritius. On the strength of
this one fragment he ventured to assert that there once lived in New
Zealand a bird as large as the ostrich, and of the same order. This
conclusion was more than confirmed by subsequent discoveries, which he
anticipated; and, as we shall see, his estimate was a most moderate
one, for the extinct bird turned out to be considerably larger than
the ostrich.
Later on he received from a friend in New Zealand news of the
discovery of more bones. In 1843 a collection of bones of large birds
was sent to Dr. Buckland, Dean of Westminster, by the Rev. William
Williams, a zealous and successful Church missionary, long resident in
New Zealand. On sending off his consignment Mr. Williams wrote a
letter, of which we give the greater part below.
/* "Poverty Bay, New Zealand, February 28, 1842.
"Dear Sir, */
"It is about three years ago, on paying a visit to this
coast--south of the East Cape, that the natives told me of
some extraordinary monster, which they said was in existence
in an inaccessible cavern on the side of a hill near the
river Wairoa; and they showed me at the same time some
fragments of bone taken out of the beds of rivers, which they
said belonged to this creature, to which they gave the name
Moa.
"When I came to reside in this neighbourhood I heard the same
story a little enlarged; for it was said that this creature
_was still existing_ at the said hill, of which the name is
Wakapunake, and that it is guarded by a reptile of the lizard
species [genus]; but I could not learn that any of the
present generation had seen it. I still considered the whole
as an idle fable, but offered a large reward to any one who
would catch me either the bird or its protector...."
These offers procured the collection of a considerable number
of fossil bones, on which Mr. Williams, in his letter, makes
the following observations:--
"None of these bones have been found on the dry land, but are
all of them from the banks and beds of fresh-water rivers,
buried only a little distance in the mud.... All the streams
are in immediate connection with hills of some altitude.
"2. This bird was in existence here at no very distant time,
though not in the memory of any of the inhabitants; for the
bones are found in the beds of the present streams, and do
not appear to have been brought into their present situation
by the action of any violent rush of waters.
"3. They existed in considerable numbers"--an observation
which has since been abundantly confirmed.
"4. It may be inferred that this bird was long-lived, and
that it was many years before it attained its full size."
This is doubtful.
"5. The greatest height of the bird was probably not less
than fourteen or sixteen feet." Fourteen is probably the
extreme limit.
"Within the last few days I have obtained a piece of
information worthy of notice. Happening to speak to an
American about these bones, he told me that the bird is still
in existence in the neighbourhood of Cloudy Bay, in Cook's
Straits. He said that the natives there had mentioned to an
Englishman belonging to a whaling party that there was a bird
of extraordinary size to be seen only at night, on the side
of a hill near the place, and that he, with a native and a
second Englishman, went to the spot; that, after waiting some
time, they saw the creature at a little distance, which they
describe as being about fourteen or sixteen feet high. One of
the men proposed to go nearer and shoot, but his companion
was so exceedingly terrified, or perhaps both of them, that
they were satisfied with looking at the bird, when, after a
little time it took alarm, and strode off up the side of the
mountain.
"This incident might not have been worth mentioning, had it
not been for the extraordinary agreement in point of size of
the bird"--with his deductions from the bones. "_Here_ are
the bones which will satisfy you that such a bird _has been_
in existence; and _there_ is said to be the _living bird_,
the supposed size of which, given by an independent witness,
precisely agrees." In spite, however, of several tales of
this kind, it is almost certain that these birds are now
quite extinct.
The leg-bones sent to London greatly exceeded in bulk those of the
largest horse. The leg-bone of a tall man is about 1 ft. 4 in. in
length, and the thigh of O'Brien, the Irish giant, whose skeleton,
eight feet high, is mounted in the Museum of the Royal College of
Surgeons, is not quite two feet. But some of the leg-bones (tibiæ) of
Moa-birds measure as much as 39 inches.
In 1846 and 1847 Mr. Walter Mantell, eldest son of Dr. Mantell, who
had resided several years in New Zealand, explored every known
locality within his reach in the North Island. He also went into the
interior of the country and lived among the natives for the purpose of
collecting specimens, and of ascertaining whether any of these
gigantic birds were still in existence; resolving, if there appeared
to be the least chance of success, to penetrate into the unfrequented
regions, and obtain a live Moa. The information gathered from the
natives offered no encouragement to follow up the pursuit, but tended
to confirm the idea that this race of colossal bipeds was extinct. He
succeeded, however, in obtaining a most interesting collection of the
bones of Moa-birds, belonging to birds of various species and genera,
differing considerably in size. This collection was purchased by the
trustees of the British Museum for £200. Another collection was made
by Mr. Percy Earle from a submerged swamp, visible only at low water,
situated on the south-eastern shore of the Middle Island. This
collection also was purchased by the trustees for the sum of £130. Mr.
Walter Mantell, who described this locality, near Waikouaiti,
seventeen miles north of Otago, thinks it was originally a swamp or
morass, in which the New Zealand flax once grew luxuriantly. The
appearance and position of the bones are similar to those of the
quadrupeds embedded in peat-bogs, as, for instance, the great Irish
elk (see next chapter). They have acquired a rich umber colour, and
their texture is firm and tough. They still contain a large proportion
of animal matter. Unfortunately, even when Mr. Walter Mantell visited
this spot, the bed containing the bones was rapidly diminishing from
the inroads of the sea, and perhaps by this time is entirely washed
away. Mr. W. Mantell, however, obtained fine specimens and feet of a
large Moa-bird (Dinornis) in an upright position; and there seems to
be little doubt that the unfortunate bird was mired in the swamp, and
perished on the spot.
The bones which he obtained from the North Island presented a
different appearance, being light and porous, and of a delicate
fawn-colour. They were embedded in loose volcanic sand. Though
perfect, they were as soft and plastic as putty, and required most
careful handling. They were dug out with great care, and exposed to
the air and sun to dry before they could be packed up and removed.
The natives were a great source of trouble to him, for as soon as they
caught sight of his operations they came down in swarms--men, women,
and children, trampling on the bones he had laid out to dry, and
seizing on every morsel they could get. The reason of this was that
their cupidity and avarice had been excited by the large rewards given
by Europeans in search of these treasures. Mixed with the bones he
found fragments of shells, and sometimes portions of the windpipe, or
trachea.
One portion of an egg which he found was large enough to enable him
to calculate the size of the egg when complete. "As a rough guess, I
may say that a common hat would have served as an egg-cup for it: what
a loss for the breakfast-table! And if many native traditions are
worthy of credit, the ladies have cause to mourn the extinction of the
Moa: the long feathers of its crest were by their remote ancestors
prized above all other ornaments; those of the White Crane, which now
bear the highest value, were mere pigeon's feathers in comparison."
The total number of species of Moa once inhabiting New Zealand was
probably at least fifteen, and, judging from the enormous
accumulations of their bones found in some districts, they must have
been extremely common, and probably went about in flocks. "Birds of a
feather _flock_ together" (proverb).
It is justly concluded, both from the vast number of bones discovered,
and from the fact of their great diversity in size and other features,
that they must have had the country pretty much to themselves; or, in
other words, they enjoyed immunity from the attacks of carnivorous
quadrupeds. In whatever way the Moas originated in New Zealand, it is
evident that the land was a favourable one, for they multiplied
enormously, and spread from one end to the other. Not only was the
number of individuals very large, but they belonged (according to Mr.
F.W. Hutton) to no less than seven genera, containing twenty-five
different species, a remarkable fact which is unparalleled in any
other part of the world. The species described by Professor Owen in
his great work,[75] vary in size from 3 ft. to 12 or even 14 ft. in
height, and differ greatly in their forms, some being tall and
slender, and probably swift-footed like the ostrich, whilst others
were short and had stout limbs, such as Dinornis elephantopus (Fig.
56), which was undoubtedly a bird of great strength, but very
heavy-footed. Dinornis crassus also had stout limbs. (See Plate
XXIII.)
[75] Memoir on _The Extinct Wingless Birds of New Zealand_. London,
1878. The beautiful drawing by Mr. Smit (Plate XXIV.) is from a
photograph in this valuable work representing the late Sir Richard
Owen standing in his academic robes by the side of a specimen of the
skeleton of the great Dinornis maximus.
[Illustration: Plate XXIII.
MOA-BIRDS.
_Dinornis giganteus._ _D. elephantopus._
Height 12 feet. A smaller species.]
[Illustration: Fig. 56.--_A._ Skeleton of the Elephant-footed Moa,
_Dinornis elephantopus_, from New Zealand. _B._ Leg-bones of _Dinornis
giganteus_, representing a bird over 12 ft. high. _r_, _b_,
footprints.]
The Natural History Museum at South Kensington contains a valuable
collection of remains of Moa-birds. These skeletons may be seen in
Gallery No. 2 (at the end of the long gallery) in the glass cases R,
R´, and S. Dinornis elephantopus (elephant-footed) is in front of the
window. In D. giganteus the leg-bone (see Fig. 56) attains the
enormous length of 3 ft., and in an allied species it is even 39 in.!
The next bone below (cannon bone) is sometimes more than half the
length of the leg-bone (tibia).
A skeleton in one of the glass cases has a height of about 10-1/2 ft.,
and it is concluded that the largest birds did not stand less than 12
ft., and possibly were 14 ft. high!
Dinornis parvus (the dwarf Moa) was only three feet high.
In 1882 the trustees obtained, from a cave in Otago, the head, neck,
two legs, and feet of a Moa (D. didinus), having the skin, still
preserved in a dried state, covering the bones, and some few feathers
of a reddish hue still attached to the leg (Table case 12). The rings
of the windpipe may be seen _in situ_, the sclerotic plates of the
eye, and the sheaths of the claws. One foot also shows the hind claw
still attached.
From traditions and other circumstances it is supposed that the
present natives of New Zealand came there not more than about six
hundred years ago, and there is reason to believe that the ancient
Maoris, when they landed, feasted on Moa-birds as long as any
remained. Their extermination _probably_ only dates back to about the
period at which the islands were thrice visited by Captain Cook,
1769-1778. The Moa-bird is mixed up with their songs and stories, and
they even have a tradition of caravans being attacked by them. Still,
some people believe that they were killed off by the race which
inhabited New Zealand before the Maoris came. But they must have been
there up to a time not far removed from the present. It is even said
that the "runs" made by them were visible on the sides of the hills up
to a few years ago; and possibly they may still be visible. The
charred bones and egg-shells have been found mixed with charcoal where
the native ovens were formerly made, and their eggs are said to have
been found in Maori graves. Mr. Hutton considers that in the North
Island they were exterminated three or four centuries ago, while in
the South Island they may have lingered a century longer.
The nearest ally of the Moa is the small Apteryx, or Kiwi, of New
Zealand, specimens of which may be seen at the Natural History Museum,
at the end of the long gallery devoted to living birds. This bird,
however, has a long pointed bill for probing in the soft mud for
worms, whereas the bill of the Moa was short like that of an ostrich.
Another difference between the two is that, while the Kiwi still
retains the rudiments of wing-bones, the Moa had hardly a vestige of
such.
In Australia the remains have been found of a bird probably related to
the Cassowaries, but at present imperfectly known. To this type of
struthious, or running bird, the name Dromornis has been given.
Now, it is a remarkable fact that remains of another giant bird and
its eggs have been found on the opposite side of the great Indian
Ocean, namely, in the island of Madagascar, the existence of which was
first revealed by its eggs, found sunk in the swamps, but of which
some imperfect bones were afterwards discovered. One of these eggs was
so enormous that its diameter was nearly fourteen inches, and was
reckoned to be as big as three ostrich eggs, or 148 hen's eggs! This
means a cubic content of more than two gallons! The natives search for
the eggs by probing in the soft mud of the swamps with long iron rods.
A large and perfect specimen of an egg of this bird, such as was
recently exhibited at a meeting of the Zoological Society, is said to
be worth £50. What the dimensions of Æpyornis were it is impossible to
say, and it would be unsafe to venture a calculation from the size of
the egg.[76] The reader who wishes to see some of the remains of this
huge bird may be referred to the Natural History Museum. In wall case
No. 25, Gallery 2 (Geological Department), may be seen a tibia and
plaster casts of other bones; also two entire eggs, many broken
pieces, and one plaster cast of an egg found in certain surface
deposits in Madagascar. In the same case may be seen bones of the Dodo
from the isle of Mauritius. Unlike New Zealand, Madagascar possesses
no living wingless bird. But in the neighbouring island of Mauritius
the Dodo has been exterminated less than three centuries ago. The
little island of Rodriguez, in the same geographical province, has
also lost its wingless Solitaire.
[76] From the size of a femur and tibia of _Æpyornis_ preserved in the
Paris Museum, it could not have been less in stature than the Dinornis
elephantopus of New Zealand.
It will thus be seen that we have three distinct groups of giant land
birds--the Moas, the Dromornis, and the Æpyornis,--occupying areas at
present widely separated by the ocean.
This raises the difficult but very interesting question, how they got
there; and the same applies to their living ancestors. The ostrich
proper, Struthio camelus, inhabits Africa and Arabia; but there is
evidence from history to show that it formerly existed in Beluchistan
and Central Asia. And, going still further back, the geological record
informs us that, in the Pliocene period, they inhabited what is now
Northern India. In Australia we have the Cassowary (Casuarius) and the
Emeu (Dromaius); in New Zealand, the Apteryx (or Kiwi). Now, as none
of these birds can either fly or swim, it is impossible that they
could have reached these regions separated as they now are; and it is
hardly likely that they arose spontaneously in each district from
totally different ancestors. But the new doctrine of evolution affords
a key to the problem, and tells us that they all sprang from a common
ancestor, of the struthious type (probably inhabiting the great
northern continental area), and gradually migrated south along land
areas now submerged. In this way we get some idea of the vast changes
that have taken place in the geography of the world during later
geological periods. Perhaps they were compelled to move south until
they reached abodes free from carnivorous enemies. Having done so,
they evidently flourished abundantly, especially in New Zealand, where
there are so few mammals, except those recently introduced by man.
In North America Professor Cope has reported a large wingless fossil
bird from the Eocene strata of New Mexico. In England we have two
such--namely, the Dasornis, from the London Clay of Sheppey (Eocene
period), and the Gastornis, from the Woolwich beds near Croydon, and
from Paris (also Eocene).
It will thus be seen that big struthious birds have a long history,
going far back into the Tertiary era, and that they once had a much
wider geographical range than they have now. Doubtless, future
discoveries will tend to fill up the gaps between all these various
types, both living and extinct, and to connect them together in one
chain of evolution.
The last great find of Moa-birds in New Zealand took place only last
year, and was reported by a correspondent to the _Scotsman_ (November
13, 1891), writing from Oamaru. In the letter that appeared at the
above date, our friend Mr. H. O. Forbes announces the discovery of an
immense number of bones, estimated to represent at least five hundred
Moas! They were found in the neighbourhood of Oamaru. And, after some
preliminary remarks, he continues as follows:--
"The part of the field on which the remains were found bears no traces
of any physical disturbance--_e.g._ of earthquake, or flood, or
hurricane--that would account for the sudden destruction of a flock or
'mob' of Moas. The Moa, when alive, carried in its crop--like our own
hens--a quantity of stones to serve as a private coffee-mill for
digestive grinding; stones which, being somewhat in proportion to the
magnitude of the giant bird, form, when found in one place, a 'heap'
of stones which are easily identified as a Moa heap, and nothing else.
And in the present case the heap was here and there found in such
relation to the bones of an individual bird as to show that the Moa
must have died on that spot, and remained there quietly undisturbed.
Further, the number of birds represented by the exhumed remains is so
great that the living birds could not have stood together on the space
of ground on which the remains were found lying. And there is not on
any of the bones any trace of such violence as must have left its mark
if the death of the birds had been caused by a Moa-hunting mankind.
Finally, it does not appear that in this particular district there
ever has been, at any traceable period of the physical history of the
land, a forest vegetation, such as might suggest that the catastrophe
was caused by fire.
"The question how to account for the slaughter is raised likewise by
two previous finds of Moa bones. The first of these, at Glenmark, in
Canterbury, was the most memorable, because, being the first, it made
the deepest impression. The second great find, far inland, up the
Molineux River, otherwise the Clutha, was beneath the diluvium that is
now worked by the gold-digger. The spot must have been the site of a
lagoon, at one point of which there was a spring. Round about this
point there were found the remains of, it was reckoned, five hundred
individual Moas. The bones were quietly _laid_ there, with, in some
cases, the 'heap' of digestive stones _in situ_ along with the
skeletons. And Mr. Booth, whose elaborate investigation of this case
is recorded in the annual volume of _The New Zealand Institute_,
suggested the theory that the climate of New Zealand was changing to a
degree of cold intolerable to Moa nature; and that the birds, fleeing
from its rigour, sought comfort in the spring of water, sheltering
their featherless breast in it, and so dozing out of this troubled
life. And in this new find the wonder comes back unmitigated, as a
mystery unsolved. For here is no bog deep enough, as in the first
instance, nor lagoon spring, as in the second, to account for that
multitude of giant birds dying in one spot.
"Another curious puzzle is, on close inspection, found everywhere in
the Moa bone discoveries. It is hardly possible to make sure that the
bones of any one complete Moa skeleton all belong to the same
individual I heard some one say the other day that it is not certain
that any Moa in any earthly museum has all his own bones, and only his
own.
"A main interest of such a find lies not in the power of supplying
museums with specimens of what is rapidly disappearing from the face
of the world, but in the possibility of finding species of Moa that
have not hitherto been tabulated. Whether any new species have been
brought to light on this occasion the experts will not say until there
has been time to make a careful study of the bones, nor do they
venture on any theory to account for there being so many individual
birds dead in that one place, where there appears to be no room for
the explanations offered in connection with previous great finds. The
date of these birds appears to be earlier than that of the coming of
the Maoris into New Zealand, say five or six hundred years ago, as the
Maori memory appears to have in it no trace of feasting on these giant
Moas, but celebrates the rat-hunt in its ancient heroic song. And your
readers may picture their appearance by noticing the fact that one of
the recently found bones must have belonged to a Moa fourteen feet
high!"
Note.--For further information on this interesting subject,
the reader is referred to a paper in _Natural Science_,
October, 1892, by Mr. F. W. Hutton. In a valuable paper, read
before the Royal Geographical Society by Mr. H. O. Forbes,
March 13, 1893, the lecturer alluded to the important fact
that bone belonging to big extinct struthious birds have been
discovered in Patagonia. This is interesting news as bearing
upon the theory of a former Antarctic continent connecting
Australia and New Zealand with South Africa, and perhaps even
with South America. After the lecture, to which we listened
with great interest, the subject was discussed by Mr. Slater,
Dr. Günther, and Dr. Henry Woodward. For ourselves we can see
no great difficulty in accepting the theory that such a
continent once existed, though it is out of harmony with the
now rather fashionable theory of "the permanence of ocean
basins"--a doctrine which seems to have been pressed too far.