“It was kept in a chamber, and was a great fowle somewhat bigger than the largest Turkey Cock, and so legged and footed, but stouter and thicker and of a more erect shape, coloured before like the breast of a young cock fesan, and on the back a dunn or deare colour. Theologian and writer Sir Hamon L'Estrange saw one dodo, displayed as a public attraction, in London in 1683. One may have been brought to Europe by Admiral Jacob Cornelius van Neck, who sent the bird to Prague and Hapsburg Rudolf II, monarch of Austria and King of Bohemia and Hungary, in 1600 (more on that in a bit). But there is evidence at least a few made it there alive. No one knows for sure how many-Julian Pender Hume, an avian paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London, estimates that four or five were shipped with only one or two arriving alive, while others estimate that as many as 14 or 17 birds may have made the trip. But there is one description of the birds fighting back: “One sailor wrote that if the men were not careful, the birds inflicted severe wounds upon their aggressors with their powerful beaks,” Pinto-Correia writes. In Crazy Bird, Pinto-Correia relates the slaughter of the dodos, which was occurring long before anyone settled at Mauritius in one account, sailors killed as many as 25 birds to bring back to the ship. Though placid and unafraid of humans, the dodo was capable of defending itself. That slow reproduction (as well as the fact that the eggs made for easy meals for predators) spelled disaster for the species. It was described as “loyal to its mate and dedicated to its chicks.” They also may have lain only one egg at a time in ground nests. It had a number of scientific names-Carl Linnaeus tried to name it Didus ineptus, or “inept dodo,” in 1766-but the one that stuck was Raphus cucullatus (Latin for “bustard” and “hooded,” respectively), which was given to the dodo in 1760. Pinto-Correia writes that by the end of the 17th century, there were a staggering 78 words for the bird. But the name that stuck, according to Clara Pinto-Correia in her book Return of the Crazy Bird, was derived from the ancient Portuguese word dondo (the modern word is doido) meaning idiot or fool. Nevertheless their belly and breast were of a pleasant flavour and easily masticated,” van Warwijck wrote in 1598. “The longer and oftener they were cooked, the less soft and more insipid eating they became. The Dutch called it walghvodel, or “disgusting bird,” because of the toughness of its flesh. The dodo’s moniker came from the Portuguese. Stones and iron are digested, which description will better be conceived in her representation.” The halfe of her head is naked seeming couered with a fine vaile, her bill is crooked downwards, in midst is the trill, from which part to the end tis a light green, mixed with pale yellow tincture her eyes are small and like to Diamonds, round and rowling her clothing downy feathers, her train three small plumes, short and inproportionable, her legs suiting her body, her pounces sharpe, her appetite strong and greedy. ![]() Her visage darts forth melancholy, as sensible of Nature's injurie in framing so great a body to be guided with complementall wings, so small and impotent, that they serve only to prove her bird. It is reputed more for wonder than for food, greasie stomackes may seeke after them, but to the delicate they are offensive and of no nourishment. is generated the Dodo … her body is round and fat, few weigh less than fifty pound. In 1634, Sir Thomas Herbert (who had visited Mariutius in 1627) described the dodo in his book A Relation of Some Yeares Travaille into Afrique and the Greater Asia: The tail consists of a few soft incurved feathers, which are ash coloured.” These birds lack wings, in the place of which 3 or 4 blackish feathers protrude. “Blue parrots are very numerous there, as well as other birds among which are a kind, conspicuous for their size, larger than our swans, with huge heads only half covered with skin as if clothed with a hood. Vice Admiral Wybran van Warwijck described the bird in his journal: It was the Dutch who named it, after Prince Maurice van Nassau, in 1598-which was also when they found the dodo. Part of a chain of three islands east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, Mauritius was discovered by the Portuguese in 1507 though they set up a base there, they soon abandoned the island. ![]() Still, careful study of surviving documents and specimens, as well as a little science, have revealed a bit about the dodo. The first thing one must accept when trying to learn about the dodo is that we'll probably never know that much about the flightless bird, which died out over 300 years ago in one of the first-if not the first-human-made extinctions.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |