THE MYSTERIOUS MOA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21396, 20 October 1934, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE MYSTERIOUS MOA

By GEOFFEIE MILLS. , Everv young New Zealander has heard of the moa, and feels some sort of interest in it, so I propose to give you young people a few facts concerning this, the world's greatest bird, hoping I may quicken your interest and lead some of you to seriously take up the study of this fascinating subject. That the moa lived in New Zealand for untold centuries we have proof that is beyond question; but where he came from no one knows; and when he ceased to live is also a mystery. Indeed, there are many things we do not know about him, and we want to know; and we older folk desire to see the new generation getting intent upon the solving of these mysteries about the bird that has caused our country to be called the Laud of the Moa. Other southern lands have their giant flightless birds. South Africa has the ostrich, which, by the way, has travelled through that continent and found its way into Arabia, and is tho only struthian or flightless bird found north of the Equator. South America has the rhea; Australia its emu; Melanesia the cassowary; and Madagascar had its roc, but which now, like our bird, is extinct; but the moa was the king of them all and, perhaps, the most numerous. We still have the tiny kiwi which, strange to say, belongs to the same family. , , Now all of tho other birds named have wings of some sort, but too small to lift their bodies into the air. It is not certain whether their wings are still undeveloped, or have been developed and through not being used for flight have slowly shrunken; but from very ancient skeletons we know the moas never had wings. So if, as some scientists claim, they came here from the extreme north of the world, then they walked. No! I have not forgotten that we live on an island; but New Zealand was not always the three small islands as now, but part of a large continent that at different times has been connected with other continents, so moa may- have just strolled down here. In later times though, he did not travel about much. Birds that fly are called volant birds, and all such have keel-shaped breastbones —that is, their breasts {ire shaped like a ship's keel, as you all will have noticed in chickens' breasts, so as to offer the least possible resistance to the air \vhen flying. The moa's breastbone is flat, as you can see at the museum.

Another important difference between the struthians and the volants is in all the bones. In flying birds the bones are porous, that is, they are just riddled with tiny air cells or passages all over them; this is to make them lighter in weight. But the moa's bones are solid and very heavy, like a bullock's, with a central tube to carry marrow, as you have seen in beef bones. The moa was not a water bird; not only are its toes not webbed, but its plumage is too loose. When geese and ducks go into water their bodies do not get wet because their feathers are specially designed to resist water. No doubt all of you have at some time pulled a feather to pieces, and noticed how the fine hairs, so to speak, all cling together; but moas' are all loose, and but for his thick skin, he could not have resisted the extreme cold of the south. He had a tiny head. It is said that the brain of the large# moa was not much bigger than that of a turkey, so we conclude he was not very intelligent. His food was cbiefly grass and leaves, and to digest these he used to swallow a number of pieces of stone, quartz, if he could get it, and these remained in his gizzard and acted as mill-stones to grind up the food. Small piles of these stones are usually found with a skeleton. The moas were divided up into about 23 different species. The tallest of these so far found were over 12ft. high, and the smallest between two and three feet, but it would seem that the great majority were from five to ten feet. Some species that were not the tallest were much heavier and thicker boned; notice this in the museum exhibits. Such were not nearly so graceful in appearance. As a matter of fact, the South Island moas were mostly sturdier built than those of the North. Next week a further talk on this great bird will appear on this page.