Dinornis

di-nor-nis, a gigantic bird of the ostrich kind. The term is Greek, meaning terrible bird. Our descriptions are based on the skeletons found in the swamps of New Zealand or buried in sand on the seashore. The species is thought to have become extinct in the eighteenth century. The largest of these birds stood from ten to fourteen feet high. They were incapable of flight. The bones are strong and solid like those of a quadruped. The thigh bones were stouter than those of a horse. It had three toes. From a single bone brought home by a scientific expedition Professor Owen of England made a drawing of this bird so successfully that subsequent finds have not made it necessary to change his description materially. A very fair skeleton is preserved in the Museum of Natural History in New York Central Park. See Ostrich