This head is still in tolerable
preservation. The singular form of the beak and nostrils, the bare
skin of the face, combined with the partly feathered head, which the
old writers compared to a hood, are still strikingly apparent. Of the
history of the leg in the British Museum, little is known. It formerly
belonged to the Royal Society, and is in all probability the same that
is mentioned in the catalogue of a museum that was offered for sale in
London by a person named Hubert, in 1664. It is certain that the leg
at Oxford, and that at London, did not belong to the same bird; for
though they are right and left, and their perfect agreement in
character proves their identity of species, yet one is nearly an inch
longer than the other. The head at Copenhagen was described by
Olearius as early as 1666, in the catalogue of the museum of the Duke
of Schleswig at Gottorf. In 1720, that museum was removed to
Copenhagen, but it was not till within the last few years, when the
history of the dodo excited so strongly the attention of naturalists,
that this head was successfully sought for, and disinterred from a
mass of rubbish, by Dr Reinhardt.
Many have been the conflicting opinions among naturalists with respect
to the class of birds the dodo should be placed in. Space will not
permit us to enter into these discussions. Suffice it to say, it is
generally agreed now that the dodo was a gigantic, short-winged,
fruit-eating pigeon.
Pages:
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61