Extinct Birds Part 1

Extinct Birds.

by Walter Rothschild.

PREFACE.

When I decided to read a paper before the Ornithological Congress of 1905 on Extinct and Vanishing Birds, I found it necessary to ill.u.s.trate my paper by a number of drawings. These drawings roused special interest among those who listened to my lecture, and I was asked by many if I could not see my way to publish the lecture and drawings, in book form, as these plates were far too numerous for the proceedings of the Congress. After some hesitation I determined to do this, greatly owing to the persuasion of the late Dr.

Paul Leverkuhn. The preparation of a book required considerably more research than the lecture, and therefore my readers will find, in the following pages, a totally different account to that in the lecture, as well as corrections and numerous additions. The lecture itself has been published in the "Proceedings of the IVth International Ornithological Congress."

I wish to thank very heartily all those of my ornithological friends, who have kindly helped me with the loan of specimens or otherwise, and especially Dr. H. O. Forbes, Dr. Scharff, Professor Dr. K. Lampert, Dr. O.

Finsch, Professor Dr. A. Koenig, Dr. Kerbert, Mr. Fleming, Dr. von Lorenz, and others.

WALTER ROTHSCHILD.

INTRODUCTION.

The study of the forms of life no longer existing on the earth, from the scanty remains preserved to us, has provoked a very great interest almost from the commencement of historical times. The very small portion of this vast field I am treating of in the following pages has a special attraction, as it deals to a great extent with forms familiar in a living state to our immediate forefathers and even to some of ourselves. Although I have here arranged the species systematically, they fall into two distinct categories, namely those known externally as well as internally, and those of which we know bones and egg-sh.e.l.ls only. Under the former category might be included those merely known from descriptions or figures in ancient books, as well as those of which specimens exist. In the present work several plates have been reconstructed from such descriptions in order to give some idea of their probable appearance. There is considerable difference of opinion as to the approximate date of the disappearance of many of the species known from bones dug from deposits which have been variously determined as pleistocene and post-pleistocene. It seems to me that this problem can never be entirely solved, but the significant fact remains, that while many bones of these species in one locality have been collected in the kitchen-middens of the former inhabitants, in other localities the same bones occur in what seem to be much older formations.

In view of this and kindred facts, I have mentioned many species which some ornithologists will probably consider outside the range of the present treatise, viz., birds which have become extinct in the last seven- or eight-hundred years. Taking my first category, viz., those species whose exterior is more or less known, our knowledge is very variable in scope; about some we have a very full and even redundant literature, such as the Great Auk, the Labrador Duck, and Notornis, while of others, such as most of the extinct Parrots from the West Indies, the "Giant" of Mauritius, the "Blue Bird" of Bourbon, and so forth, we have the very scantiest knowledge.

Even in the times of Leguat and Labat there must have been many species, now extinct, of which no mention has ever been made, for {viii} these old writers only mentioned such species which impressed themselves on their memories either from their size, peculiar shape, beauty of plumage, or excellence and usefulness for food--in fact the culinary property of the various birds seems to have been their princ.i.p.al interest. One of the most interesting phenomena connected with recently extinct birds is the resemblance of the fauna of the Mascarene Islands and that of the Chatham Islands in the possession of a number of large flightless Rails, though the significance of this fact has been much exaggerated.

On the whole, this book is confined to species actually known to be extinct, but a few are included of which a small number is still known to exist, because firstly there seems no doubt that they will vanish soon, and secondly, as in the case of _Notornis_, it was necessary to clear up certain misconceptions and contradictory statements. In the case of a few species believed to be quite extinct, it is possible that some individuals may still exist in little known parts of their range, while on the other hand it is more than likely that several of the species referred to in my lecture (Proc. Orn. Congress pp. 191-207, 1907) as threatened with destruction, have already ceased to live. This may also be the case with some birds not alluded to at all.

In several instances I have treated of extinct flightless species under genera including existing species capable of flight. This may appear to be inconsistent, seeing that I maintain _Notornis_ separate from _Porphyrio_, but, while not considering flightlessness in itself a generic character, the great development of the wing-coverts and the modification of the toes appear of sufficient generic value in this case. I know that several of the most eminent ornithologists of the day, among them Dr. Sharpe, differ from me, and are convinced that the loss of the power of flight is so profound a modification, that it is imperative that we should treat it as sufficient for generic distinction.

While agreeing that many genera are founded on much less striking modifications, I cannot concur in this opinion, for, unless the loss of the power of flight is also accompanied by other changes, in some cases it is difficult to find at first sight even specific differences other than the aborted wings.

The cause of recent extinction among birds is in most cases due directly or indirectly to man, but we also have instances of birds becoming extinct for no apparent reason whatever.

Man has destroyed, and is continually destroying species directly, either for {ix} food or for sport, but also in many other ways he contributes to their destruction. Some species have been exterminated by the introduction of animals of prey, such as rats, cats, mongoose, etc., and we know that also the acclimatisation of other birds, such as the mynah, etc., has proved to be harmful to the native birds. Again we find that the introduction of domestic creatures or others kept as pets has brought diseases which may prove fatal to the indigenous fauna. Another means by which man causes immense destruction, is by destroying the natural habitat of various species. By cutting down or burning the forests, prairies, or scrub, and by bringing the land under cultivation, man indirectly kills off a species through starvation, from extermination of certain insects or plants on which it depends for food. Many species, such as the Moas, were evidently greatly reduced in numbers by cataclysms of Nature, such as volcanic outbreaks, earthquakes, floods, bush fires, etc., and then died out from what appears only explicable by the natural exhaustion of their vitality. The chief cause of the extermination of the Moas was undoubtedly their slaughter by the Maoris for food, but in several inaccessible parts of the interior large numbers of Moa remains have been found which undoubtedly had died for no apparent reason.

This cause also seems to be the only explanation of the dying out of such birds as _Aechmorhynchus_, _Chaetoptila_, _Camptolaimus_ and others.

The melancholy fact however remains that man and his satellites, cats, rats, dogs, and pigs are the worst and in fact the only important agents of destruction of the native avifaunas wherever they go.

I have not included in the body of this work the fossil species from the pleistocene of Europe, Asia, Australia and America, as I believe that these belonged to an avifauna of an epoch considerably anterior to those attributed to the pleistocene of New Zealand and the adjacent islands, as well as that of the Mascarenes and Madagascar. I, however, give here the list of the species described from the above mentioned regions which I have been able to find in our literature, to serve as a guide to those who may think I ought to have included them in the work itself.

_Strix melitensis_ Lydekker Malta.

_Vultur melitensis_ Lydekker Malta.

_Peleca.n.u.s proavus_ De Vis Queensland.

_Phalacrocorax sp._ Lydekker New Zealand.

_Aythya robusta_ De Vis Queensland.

_Anas elapsa_ De Vis Queensland.

_Anas benedeni_ Sharpe Belgium.

_Alopochen pugil_ Winge Brazil.

{x} _Dendrocygna validipennis_ (De Vis) Queensland.

_Branta hypsibata_ Cope Oregon.

_Branta propinqua_ Schufeldt Oregon.

_Anser scaldii_ Van Beneden Belgium.

_Anser sp._ Lydekker England.

_Anser coudoni_ Schufeldt Oregon.

_Cygnus sp._ Lydekker Malta.

_Cygnus falconeri_ Parker Malta.

_Palaeopelargus n.o.bilis_ De Vis Queensland.

_Prociconia lydekkeri_ Ameghino Brazil.

_Platibis subtenuis_ De Vis Queensland.

_Grus proavus_ Marsh New Jersey.

_Grus melitensis_ Lydekker Malta.

_Grus turfa_ Portis Italy.

_Grus primigenia_ Milne Edwards France.

_Fulica prior_ De Vis Queensland.

_Fulica pisana_ Portis Italy.

_Porphyrio mackintoshi_ De Vis Queensland.

_Gallinula strenuipes_ De Vis Queensland.

_Gallinula peralata_ De Vis Queensland.

_Microtribonyx effluxus_ De Vis Queensland.

_Progura gallinacea_ De Vis Queensland.

_Columba melitensis_ Lydekker Malta.

_Lithophaps ulnaris_ De Vis Queensland.

_Gallus sp._ Lydekker New Zealand.

_Gallus sp._ Lydekker Central Germany.

_Phasia.n.u.s sp._ Lydekker Germany.

_Perdix sp._ Issel Italy.

_Tetrao sp._ Issel Italy.

_Metapteryx bifrons_ De Vis Queensland.

_Dromaius queenslandiae_ (De Vis) Queensland.

_Dromaius gracilipes_ (De Vis) Queensland.

_Dromaius patricius_ (De Vis) East Australia.

_Genyornis newtoni_ Sterling & Zeitz South Australia.

_Casuarius lydekkeri_ nom. nov.

"The distal extremity of the tibio-tarsus is narrow, without a semilunar pit on the lateral surface of the ectocondyle, and with a very deep extensor groove" (Lydekker, Cat. Fossil B. Brit. Mus., p. 353). {xi}

Type, a caste of the distal portion of the right tibio-tarsus, in the British Museum. The original is preserved in the Museum at Sydney and was obtained from the pleistocene cavern-deposits in the Wellington Valley in New South Wales.

A bird usually stated to be extinct is _Monarcha dimidiata_, from Rara-Tonga, but in March, 1901, two specimens, male and female, were procured by the Earl of Ranfurly. Doubtless this is a species which will one day vanish entirely, but at present it hardly comes within the scope of this work.

The birds known to be more or less on the verge of extinction which I have not thought advisable to give in the main part of this book might, for convenience of reference and to avoid possible controversy as to my having omitted any species, be given here, but it must be understood that of these species I only know the fact that their numbers have been greatly reduced and mostly almost to vanishing point. I have already mentioned before that some of them may already have disappeared, but in many cases recent investigations are wanting, and all, therefore, that can be said of them is that they are threatened and may soon become extinct, if they still exist.

_Myadestes sibilans_ St. Vincent.

_Myadestes genibarbis_ Martinique.

_Cinclocerthia gutturalis_ Martinique.

_Rhamphocinclus brachyurus_ Martinique.

_Ixocincla olivacea_ Mauritius.

_Phedina borbonica_ Mascarene Islands.