When the first discoverers of the Mascarene Islands investigated that locality, they found, among other strange animals, a number of huge birds without wings, which, however, were remarkable for their power of running. One was a rail which stood a foot higher than the tallest man, being over seven feet in height. The bird was so beautiful and curious that the sailors followed it whenever an opportunity offered, and the natives, finding that they could readily use them in barter, also began what resulted in a war of extermination. The poor birds were pursued by the hunters day and night, through swamp and forest, until they were finally brought to bay, and, after a struggle, reduced to subjection. A few years of such incessant hunting greatly lessened their numbers, and finally they were entirely destroyed, the last one having been observed in 1694; and to-day not a single bone or feather remains to tell the story of this giant among its kind.
Among the other curious birds of this and other islands was the giant of the pigeons, a bird as large as a swan—an immense pigeon, with fluffy, curly feathers, but incapable of flight. When Mauritius was discovered, in the sixteenth century, this bird was common, and was killed by the sailors in great numbers—by some in wanton sport, and by others for the curious stones found in its stomach. It was hunted so continually that it soon ceased to exist.
The last living one was seen by the mate of the English ship Berkley Castle, in June, 1681, and to-day not a single specimen of the great bird is known. A foot in the British Museum, a head and foot at Oxford, and a few other bones, are the only relics to tell the story of the existence of the king of the pigeons, the famous dodo.
Many centuries ago, in France, when man lived in caves, there lived a gigantic bird called the gastornis, a great gooselike form that towered aloft thirteen or fourteen feet, and was a most powerful creature.
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It probably lived near the streams in marshy spots, depending upon its powers of running to escape its enemies, as it had no wings. About the locality where the city of Rheims now stands, the remains of this great wader and swimmer have been found in the caves, mixed in among the bones of other animals, as the great mammoth and cave bear, which are known to have lived during the time of man, by whom they were undoubtedly hunted and used as food.
But these were not the greatest of the giants of this olden time. The largest of the wingless birds, as we have seen, was the great moa, whose plumes were worn by the victorious Maori chiefs; but even these had feathered enemies—enormous eagles or birds of prey, as the harpagornis, large and powerful enough to have borne the largest of the dinornis tribe through the air to its nest. Surely the roc, as it is pictured by the old Arabian story-tellers bearing Sinbad away, is not so much of an exaggeration after all, as, if the harpagornis could make the moa its prey, it could easily have borne away several human beings.
Another giant was a huge goose, called by the naturalists Cnemiornis; while others, of less stature, though gigantic when compared to their living representatives, have left their remains in caves and various deposits, speaking monuments of their greatness, and of the age of wonders in which they lived.
INSECT FISHERS.
"I WAS fortunate once," said a naturalist, "in witnessing an occurrence which impressed me as being very curious, considering that the principal was a beautiful insect, one of the 'darning needles' which we feared when children. It was in the Southern States, and one warm summer day, I had been walking downstream for several hours, whipping it diligently for trout, and finally, weary, had gone ashore and started through the woods to the place where the team was to meet me. Half a mile in, I came to a little pond hardly twenty rods wide, which, with its surroundings of wild roses and other flowers, was so attractive that I threw myself down upon the bank to revel in the scene; and, indeed, there was quite enough to delight either a botanist or a zoologist. On a half-submerged log were several turtles asleep in the sun; the clear water of the pond was broken here and there by fish rising, while birds of various kinds fluttered about, singing and chirping in high glee.
"While I was looking at the water I noticed a large insect come dashing over the pond like a flash of light. It was one of the largest of the darning needles, with great, lacelike wings, its iridescent tints gleaming in the sunlight, so that it appeared like a veritable gem flitting about. It sailed across the pond several times, and then, to my astonishment, deliberately dived into the water just as a kingfisher would, and with such a force that it nearly disappeared, rising almost instantly, and darting off. At first I thought it had been struck by another insect and had fallen; but in a few moments back it came and dived into the water again, this time rising heavily, and I distinctly saw that it held between its feet a tiny minnow, which it bore away to a bush on the bank, a moment later disappearing from view. So here was an insect fisherman—perhaps the first on record. I waited to see if it would not return; but the fish was probably sufficient to last for some time, and I did not see it again."
<!-- image -->The dragon fly, or devil's darning needle, as it is often called, is one of the most voracious of insects; but comparatively few observers have seen it dive into the water and lift out a fish of perhaps twice its own weight—an act which might be compared to that of an eagle carrying off a full-grown man.
The dragon flies are extremely interesting creatures, and have a most remarkable make-up. They are literally all eyes and wings, the former, in some cases, completely encircling the head. The mouth calls to mind that of the grasshopper, but the under lip is a curious organ, in which the palpi, or feelers, are modified so that they form saucerlike objects which almost cover the lower part of the face. The head is that of a living arrow, from which extends the long, slender body, propelled by powerful, lacelike wings.
"Common Green Darning Needle."
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The dragon fly is formed for a continuous aerial existence, and is never seen walking, but nearly always on the wing in headlong flight, its monstrous eyes on the lookout for mosquitoes and other game.
The darning needle is a fisherman not only in its adult stage, but in its incomplete or pupal form. Its transformations are among the most interesting of all insects, and are easily observed. The Libellula, when laying, alights upon a spear of grass projecting above the water, attaching the eggs to a part of the submerged stem, though some are not so careful, but drop their eggs into the water while hovering over it. If the spear of grass is examined after this operation has been performed, it will be found that not only has the egg been attached, but the insect has cut a hole in the grass and inserted it in the orifice, so that it is thus perfectly protected.
If the great-eyed dragon fly is a curiosity, the larva is still more so. In early life it exhibits all the characteristics of courage and ferocity that are the features of the adult form. Generally it is a stout-bodied creature, resembling somewhat the grasshopper, lying in the ooze at the bottom of ponds, and continually foraging for game, for the capture of which it has a wonderful organ. Its powerful legs enable it to crawl, but it has still another method of propulsion, almost unique in its way. The end of the intestine opens into an orifice at the hinder portion of the body, the walls of which are perforated with minute holes, through which air that is taken from the water in the chamber passes, and so permeates the body; in fact, the insect breathes in this way. When all the air is extracted from the water the walls contract suddenly, forcing the water out violently, thus propelling the larva along several inches, so that respiration and locomotion may be said to be accomplished by the same act.
When a prospective victim is seen, the larva darts forward, and from its head there appears to extend a telescopic apparatus that clutches the prey and draws it back. This is the so-called lip, or mask, which, when the insect is at rest, forms a broad mask, covering the jaws; but at the moment of attack this combination of jaws is thrust forward, and the under lip is darted out like a veritable grappling iron. The hooks at the extremity pierce and draw the victim to the jaws, where it is torn in pieces by the ferocious larva. By means of this armament this predatory insect creeps upon small fishes, seizing them before they are aware of its presence, and, when among young trout, doing great damage.
After passing some time in this stage, the larva changes and becomes a pupa, literally bursting from the old skin, that opens along the thorax, now showing upon its back two little pads, which are the rudimentary wings. When the time for the final change comes, the pupa climbs upon some plant, and approaches the surface. The pupal skin bursts open along the back, and from the shell emerges, limp and seemingly lifeless, the adult dragon fly. For several hours it clings to the plant, the warm sun completing the transformation, seemingly painting it with gorgeous colors, and imparting strength and vigor; for soon its wings appear stiff, rigid, and glistening, when, like a dart, the newly born creature is away, and its life in the sunshine has commenced.
The dragon flies are of undoubted use in capturing other insects. They prey especially upon mosquitoes, and in some sections are known as mosquito hawks. In Lombok, Malay Archipelago, they are considered a great delicacy by the natives, who capture the large species by attaching a gum to a long pole, so that when the insect alights upon it its feet become caught. The wings are used as ornaments in some countries, and those which have brilliant tints present in the sunlight a magnificent appearance.
ANIMAL MIMICS.
EVEN the most casual observer must be impressed with the many artifices of delicate and inoffensive animals to escape their enemies. This is illustrated in a marked degree in the squids, from one of which comes the cuttlefish bone of commerce. All this singular family have a chameleon-like power of changing color and adapting it to that of their surroundings; but in one, the Cranchia, this faculty is developed to a remarkable degree. The animal is not usually over two inches in length; the body is balloon-shaped, the head very small, and the tentacles extremely short.
"A Squid."
<!-- image -->The body is dotted over its entire surface with little points of color, and when the animal is alive it is constantly changing—now being suffused with red, fading suddenly to yellow, an array of tints following one another in quick succession, making it a most interesting object.
That this power serves as a protection there can be but little doubt; when the squid is swimming or poising over sandy bottom its color is white; let the same animal now dart forward by the action of the jet of water from its siphon, and hover over a patch of weed, the spectral form grows darker, soon merging into the prevailing tint of its surroundings, and disappearing from the view of a possible enemy. In this instance and many others the disguise is not premeditated, the result being the effect of certain colors upon the color-cells.