The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1903-04-16

the line of the equator runs directly
through it.
On Charles and Chatham islands
| thousands of pussy cats, every one of
them entirely black, live in the crew
ices of lava near the shore, and get
living by hunting for crabs and
| fishes, but the most remarkable in
habitants are giant land tortoises,
some of which have been known to
weigh more than 500 pounds. The
group is 600 miles west of Ecuador, to
which country it belongs, but some
day Uncle Sam is likely to buy it for
coaling station.
Recently there was captured in New
Zealand the fourth specimen ever seen,
so far as science has recorded, of a
| fiightless bird called a notornis. 1t
looks somewhat like a goose, and has
a curious kind of bill, with a small
| red comb above it that stands cross
wise. Though it cannot fly at all, its
feathers being too soft and yielding, it
is a first-rate runner, and one of its
odd traits is a weakness for thieving,
its special passion being to steal every
thing it can lay its beak on.
The first two specimens killed were
sold to the British museum, where
they are now preserved. The third
brought $50 in Dresden, and $500 is
said to have been refused for the
fourth, just mentioned.
New Zealand has always been the
great headquarters of flightless birds.
1t was separated from the mainland
some time before the first mammals
made their appearance upon the earth,
and consequently there were no man.
mails there whatever, except few
bats, until man arrived in the coun-
try. For birds, therefore, it was
veritable paradise. without a four
legged enemy to fear, and many spe-
cies found so little use for their wings
that those appendages almost disap-
peared. One of these was the motor
mis-, which was supposed to be entirely
extinct until the fourth specimen
turned up the other day. Quite pos
sibly there are others still surviving
Another flightless bird of New Zea-
land is the well-known apteryx, which
is not bit like any other feathersd
creature in the world. t
There were several species of moa
the largest of them attaining height
of IA feet and weight of fully 500
pounds. 1t was a harmless creature
and even helpless, being without pow
er of flight, and slow and clumsy in
all its movements. Besides, it was
extremely stupid. 1t was remark
able for its enormous legs and feet,
which were so heavy that it could not
run fast, and its determination was a
question of only very short time
when man had arrived on the scene.
The bird that is not a flyer stands a
poor chance for survival in these days.
1t is now just about 60 years since the
great aux became extinct, and an egg
of this species is worth to-day $1,000.
There are about ~ of the eggs in ex-
istence, and the last one sold was dis
posed of at auction in London in 1901
for $1,260. In 1900 perfect egg
brought $1,67s.
Funk island is lonely rock SO
miles out at sea off the coast of New
foundland. The early settlers of that
country depended to a large extent
upon the flesh and eggs of the great
aux for food, and were accustomed to
make trips for the purpose of obtain
ing the birds, at regular intervals, and
often at great risk, to the far off
islet, which was the principal breeding
place and last retreat of the species.
Sometimes the unhappy fowls were
herded together, in corrals, built by
setting stone slabs on edge, and were
kept confined in this manner until thew
were wanted. They were so fat that it
is said they were sometimes used as
fuel for cooking. The final destruc-
ton of the great aux, however, was
due to the demand for its feathers,
and when at length it succumbed, its
extinction came so suddenly as to take
naturalists unawares. Thus it came
about that there exist to-day only a
very few skins and eggs, preserved In
observation-disclosures City Star. /