The Red Cloud chief., 1879-12-04

| ground tnmblcr. appear. 10 be a matter
Il uncertainty
After ton has again been directed. by
traveller. in New Zealand. Ia the r.
mains 81 the gigantic and wonderful
mn1 bird If that country. and which,
among OruitholOgisi- IF all land. ha.
always been regarded with peculiar In
tere.i. pr. Hector now demonstrates
mos, conclu>!ycly that the knowl-t-c
If their former existence WAS not com
mun!ca;.l 20 the natives by Europeans,
whu deduc.- their existence or str3ciur.
from their remains, but. on IN. cpntra-
-. Wa impaired "a he latter hy the
former. lie believe there 4, NO hope
II ever finding this bird alive, for h.
himself has been over the whole II the
country very thoroughly without 4 Ugh;
II them, and satisfied himself that, The
region occupied by prim.yal forest, be-
fore the advent IF European, "a, lha:
"a which moa bones did not occur. Hi
conclusion j., that the bird, lived in the
! open and lpw scrub. in which they could
walk in ali Thu, region. the moa bone,
are extremely abundant in the South
Island. I'm the cnDrmou, extent Il sub
alpine country IN the South Island,
which i covered hy only a lish, yegr;a-
ton, large quantities If well preserved
moa remains are found associated with
remains of n~atiyc-. II seemed a. If he
natives hal pressed up into the country
for the purpose of capturing.
killing and eating the moa,, and a, the
latter could not be followed through the
sharp bayorct-grIS> and other under
scrub, their pur~ucr> would appear 10
have got at them 10y setting portions of
it on fire, which collected the creature,
together. often killed them and account
"d for - MANY of their bones being ac-
cumula,rd in particular spots. The
height If Ia" mOl l. estimated al about
ten feet; II appears, al~", from the foot
prints found in stone -lahS-vcry plainly
indentcd and following each other IN
regular succc.-iun-ihat the length Of
the foot-mark, from the heel & the tip
IF the center toe, was nearly eight
inches.
Among the wonders II the southern
seas the pcnguinS rank con,picu"u, in
the fcathcrcd class. and on some of the
| islands constitute a most extraordinary
| III III. HI inc ltttit fNitiill sitl'fl VI
Nightingale Island. under the direction
Of Wyyillc Thomson, the prodigiou~
numbers and strange habits Of these
| birds excited special observation and in
tcrcS;. They had millions Of nests un-
der the long grass, and kept the ground
constantly wet, Il strong smell of am
monia also proceeding from it,. II vas
impossible Ia pass = single ward along
the grass without crushing the Young
birds or nests, while the old pcuguin>
all around made the most fright
full din, and Jagged the lrg Of the
traveller, their long, sharp bcak~ draw
ing blood al every stroke. They are
perfectly tamc-in the first place, be
| cau>e they did not know any reason for
fear from proximity II man; and See
ondly. hccau,c they have really NO
means of escape; they stand from one
and onc-half To- two and one-half feet in
height. and their nests are little fla,
| clay crcctionS, about two inches high,
the bird LAYING one and sometimes two
c@@S, Ia hatch which She sits upright on
the nest; acres are sometimes thus coy
| cred by them, and again, H. many ~ Il
thousand of them will he seen dciibcr-
atcly walking To- the sea. On getting IN
to the water, they act just ~ If they
were fishes; the gray groove in their
backs i occasionally seen above tn"
surface, but il i scarcely possible Ia
imagine them to be birds. Having II he'd
for a short time, they return - their
nests by a regular path; the whole i
carried out by most orderly system
the birds "nin" to sea by one path and
returning by another. Sometimes they
will stand and have a talk for a while. a
| regular chattcring @oin" on amun~
them; then, AL of Il sudden they will
stand at attention and each one of the
| great multitude proceed Ia lis own par
ticular nest.
OF 4 very different class j. the world
famous bird of paradise" great
tlockS of which are found in some of the
islands uf the Southern seas. and the
| hunting of which. in certain ncighbor-
hoods, constitutes aprincipal occupation
of some Of the inhabitants. Even by
these scmi-Saya@c tribes. this bird i
much admired for it, exquisite appear
ancc, having, IL il does. Il most mag
Liiiccnt plume Of feathers. of Il delicate
yellow color. coming up from under the
wings and fallin" owe the back like a
jet of water. the breast showing Il beau
tiful emerald green. and the body a
charming yellow. They are about the
size of Il small pigeon. and have a voice
not very unlike the jackdaw; they are
restless, peculiar birds, living about the
branches of great trees, and are q n
Stantly chatterin%, but. being much
hunted, they are extremely wary, and
are with difficulty shot. In order To get
them, the natives 90 up into the bou@hS
of a tree which the birds are known to
frequent, and, collecting a number of
the branches, conceal themselves So Is
scarcely To be seen, then. when n flock
comeS they pick off the birds with
b~lunt-hcadcd arrows. the latter being of
course, quite noiSeleSs; the bird is sim
ply paralyzcd and falls. and in this way
the natives sometimes get a large num-
Der of the flock.-St. Louis Republican.