The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-06-13
A BIG BIRDS PLUMES.
REMARK ABLE FEATHERS REACH
TtEB NATIONAL MUSEUM.


les believed TO Have Been the Lar
Gest Bird That Ever Lived.
From The Washington Post
Government naturalists ore much excited
over the arrival At the Natiopal Museum
of some feathers of that wonderful bird.
the moa. When it is considered that this
fowl was PROBABLY the largest bird that
ever existed, attaning a height of fourteen
feet and weight of loo pounds one re-
alizes in some degree the interest that
must attach to such a "hnd." For the
moa became extinct a long time ago
some authorities say as much as 500 years
ago, though there is TO absolute certainty
on that point-aud inasmuch as no feath-
cred creature resembling il seems ever to
nave lived in the world before or since. and
facts that throw light upon its history
are eagerly sought.
Recognizing the Feathers.
The reason why the feathers in question
are known positively to be those of a moa
is that they We're found attached 10 a
piece of skin stu Ringing to some bones
that were readily recognizable as having
belonged TO a moa. They were discovered
In cave and just how the bones got
there is not wholly obvious, though IL was
probably through human agenCy. In New
Zealand. whence the feathers came, large
quantities of moa bones have been dug
up from time 10 time, many Of them being
obtained from caverns. In earlier days
The birds seem 10 have inhabited both the
north and south islands of New Zealand.
where they must have been exceedingly
numerous, though they never found their
way to any other part of the world; a
fact not al all surprising, inasmuch as
they could not fly at oil
How They BecRmc Extinct
UntH recently their determination has
been attributed TO the Maoris. but now 1t
is thought that they were more probably
wiped out by race OF peop!e who preceded
the present natives OF New Zealand, the
date when the giant fowl became extinct
being set back some hundreds Of years.
Whatever may be the truth as to this
point it would appear that the people who
ate the moa off the face of the islands
dwelt in some extent in caves. into which
they dragged the bodies of the birds for
the purpose OF cooking and eating them
That they did not cal them raw is shown
by the fact hat many of the bones are
charred. Ii follows that in the course
of time considerable collections 6f such re-
mains went 20 form the deposits in which
the naturalist Of to-day discovers such in
teresting relics of HE dinornis, as the
creature is scientifically called.
Its Dangerous Kick.
The word dinornis signifies terrible
bird" bur this term is not very accurate
~ descriptive, unless 1t IS 10 be considered
as referring 10 the alarming size of he
fowl, which, IL is true, must have been
able to iufict dangerous kick such as
might have killed a man If he stood d.
rectly behind In other respects 1t was
harmless to the point of helplessness be-
ing without power of flight incapab bic of
running fast and slow and clumsy in all
Its movements. Besides ii was extremely
stupid. In no other country could il have
survived at all, owing 10 these advantages.
but New Zealand had no native carnivor-
GUS animals, and it is likely that the
islands were not Inhabited by man until
a period comparatively recent In the his |
tory of the world. Thus it came about
that the moo waxed great and numerous
one Of its relatives, the apteryx, which
likewise has no wings, survives to this day
in New Zealand, though approaching ex-
termination.
Clumsy and Could Not Fly
The moa was remarkable for dts enor-
nous legs and feet, which were so heavy
that IL could not possibly move about |
very fast. 1t Is probable that The natives
who hunted IL FOR food, used spears, and
owing to its helplessn.ss, its extermina-
ton was question Of only a very short
lltut. LNeStIiutlfFE, the DlIuS must nave
been very plentiful before the slaughter
began. is shown by the large quaint
ties of their remains which have been dug
up. Masses of the bones have been OBJ
tanned from reclaimed swamps, in one In
s ance rs many as 100 skeletons, fairly
complete, being recovered from a single
locality. The National Museum possesses
q thigh bone of dinornis, which Is over
three feet in length, and every scientific
institution Of importance in Europe has
one or more skeletons The feathers, how
ever. are entirely new.
Mon Eggs.
The thigh bone above referred to be-
longed originally to specimen of the
dinornis maximus. which, as Its name in
dicates was the largest of the moas. There
were several species of the moa In New
Zealand-certainly more han dozsn-the
smallest OF them ell being no bigger than
one of our domestic turkeys. SO far as
can be ascerIained from the remains dis |
covered. the numerous species were the
smaller ones. the giants. such The di-
nornis maXimGs and The dinorns ingens /
which latter was about the Size of an |
ostrich, being comparatively rare. New /
Zealand is large country aud II has been /
suggested that possibly few moas may /
yet survive in the unexplored regions Of /
the south island but, though the surmlse I
is interesting and even picturesque, IL is /
not plausible
There are IN existence to-day very few !
eggs Of the moo-probaby not more than !
half dozen-which are distributed among I
various great museums The British Mu- |
scum has one. but our own National Mu- /
scum has only ehsts of two. and no orgi- /
nal. In the Museum OF Natural History, /
in New York, however, IS a dinorns egg, |
which is, In one important respect, the /
most interesting one In the world, mas |
much as u contains the bones Of an un-
bafrhpA The of the dinCTuig ]
maximus is equal In size to six ostrich |
eggs. being nearly foot long. A silk hat J