Owen points out as a distinction between the latter bird and the Vultures. This is the result of the
prolongation of the beak, and the approach to parallelism in its opposite surfaces; and the only other
birds which exhibit this conformation, are certain Grallatores and Tenuirostres, neither of which groups
have any reference to the present question.
6. The apparent width of gape is one of the characters referred to by De Blainville in proof of
the Vulturine relations of the Dodo. But the fact is, that the rictus of the Dodo is by no means so
wide as in the Raptorial birds, and is proportionably no wider than in the Pigeons. On examining
the original specimen, the angle of the mouth is seen to terminate three quarters of an inch in front of
the eye. From this point-a remarkable cutaneous ridge, which seems peculiar to this bird, extends
backwards and downwards beneath the eye, and gives the appearance of a very capacious mouth. (See
plate V).
7. The tarsi of the Dodo are only partially covered with transverse scuta, the upper portion being
clothed with small scales. This structure is used by De Blainville as an argument for its affinity to
the Vultures, in which the tarsi and greater part of the toes are wholly squamose. But although in
the majority of Pigeons the tarsi are covered anteriorly with transverse scuta, yet it is interesting to
find that in two genera, Stamcenas and Goura, whose habits are almost wholly terrestrial, we find the
tarsi clothed with small scales, not unlike those in the Dodo.
8. The absence of metatarsal spines which has been adduced as an objection to. the supposed
Gallinaceous affinities of the Dodo, prevails equally throughout the Cohmbidce.
9. The short robust tarsi, and broad expansion of the lower surface of the toes in the Dodo (see
PI. VI) are much more conspicuous in the Pigeons, especially in the group Treronina (including
Ccvrpophaga), than in the Vultures. I know no other group in which the toes are similarly expanded
except the Hombills {Bucerotida), and these assuredly have no affinity to the Dodo. The design of
this structure is probably to give the bird a firmer footing, and to compensate for the shortness, or
insufficient lateral movement of the toes.
10. A general character of perchi/ng birds consists in the hind toe being articulated so low down,
that its inferior surface forms a continuous plane with the sole of the foot; whereas in those orders
which are essentially ambulatory, such as the Rasores and Grallatores, the hind toe is more or less
raised above the level of the other toes. But in the Pigeons, whose habits are essentially arboreal, the
former structure is constant, even in the strictly terrestrial genera, and in the case of the Dodo,
although it must have been exclusively confined to the ground, Nature still adheres to the Columbine
position of the hind toe. An analogous persistence of type is seen in the Ground Parrots and Ground
Cuckoos, in which the reversed position of the outer toe, an essentially soansorial structure, is maintained
in spite of the discordance of habits.
11. On comparing the relative lengths of the anterior toes in the different genera of Pigeons,
with reference to their peculiarities of habit, we find that in the exclusively arboreal genera (such as
Treron, Carpophaga, Ptilonopus, &c.), the inner toe is shorter than the outer; in the more terrestrial
genera (as Phaps, Geophaps, &c.), it is longer than the outer; while in those genera which combine
both modes of life, (as Cobmba, Tu/rtu/r, Geopelia, &c.), these digits are nearly equal. Conformably
with this, we find that in the Dodo, the most terrestrial of all Pigeons, the inner toe is considerably
longer than the outer. Now although the head of the Dodo agrees most nearly with that of the Trerons,
from which I infer that it fed, like those birds, on tropical fruits, yet as the Trerons are exclusively
arboreal birds, it is interesting to observe that the structure of its foot approaches rather to that of
the Ground Pigeons.
12. The Dodo, like the Pigeons, is destitute of any membrane between the toes; whereas all the
Vultures, as well as the Gallinaceous birds, are characterized by a short interdigital web.
13. The short, strong, blunt claws of Didus do not indicate any Raptorial propensities, but are
merely such as we find in most ground birds, as in the terrestrial genera of Pigeons, as well as in the
GalUnacece.
B. Internal Characters.—14. An argument which has often been used to prove that the Dodo was
a Vulture, or, at least, that it was carnivorous, is the toughness and supposed bad taste of its flesh.
Tough it undoubtedly was, and so are all large birds. The toughest bird I ever tried to eat, was a wild
Swan, yet no one would argue from this that Swans are not allied to Geese and Ducks. Even common
Wood-Pigeons are by no means remarkably tender. And the alleged bad taste of the Dodo is a pure
invention of the moderns, founded on the statement in Van Neck's Voyage, (see p. 9, supra,) that the
Dutchmen became disgusted with these birds, and called them Walckvogel. But this disgust is
expressly attributed, first, to their toughness (accompanied, however, with the admission that the
breasts and stomachs [imagine the taste of a Vultwds stomach!] were “ saporis jucundi et masticationis
facilis ''); and, secondly, because they found an abundance of Turtle-Doves which they liked better.
And no wonder ; Dutch sailors now-a-days, if supplied ad libitum with Turtle-Doves and Wood-
Pigeons, would doubtless devour the former, and call the latter Walckvogel. The voyagers who followed
Van Neck seem to have been less dainty, for they both feasted on fresh Dodos, and stored them
among their salt provisions {supra, pp. 15,17). It is therefore clear that the little which we ever
shall know concerning the flavour of Dodo-meat affords no objection to the Columbine hypothesis.
15. It appears from the paintings of the Dodo, that this bird must have had a very large ceso-
phagal dilatation or crop. This is a structure which occurs in many different orders, its object being,
in some cases (as in granivorous birds), to macerate the food before it passes into the stomach; in
others (as in the Raptores), to enable the bird to swallow large quantities of food at distant intervals.
The crop of the Dodo, therefore, does not prove much as to its affinities, but as there are no birds
in which the crop is more developed than in the Pigeons, the figures of the Dodo are quite consistent
with its supposed relation to that family.
16. We do not know much as to the degree of muscularity of the Dodo's gizzard.. If by the
“ stomach," (venter, ventriculus, estomach, maag,) which the old voyagers found tender and palatable,
the gizzard is intended, it would certainly imply a small .degree of muscular rigidity. This, however,
can hardly have been the case, for we are assured by numerous witnesses {supra, pp. 12,15, 17, 20,22,)
that the Dodo had stones in its gizzard; a character which is always accompanied by a very muscular
condition of that organ. Be this as it may, we know that stones are only swallowed by frugivorous
birds, which require them to triturate their food, and are never found in the gizzards of the Raptores.
17. We are told by Cauche that the Dodo laid only one egg, and the analogous case of the
Solitaire (mentioned hereafter), confirms his statement. Now the Gallinaceous birds are generally
remarkable for laying a large number of eggs. Raptorial birds, indeed, lay but few, yet no species of
that order (as far as I am aware) lays a single egg, like the Dodo. But in the Pigeons we find that
a very small number of eggs (commonly two) are the prevailing rule, while in certain genera {Carpophaga
and Ectopistes, see Blyth in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xiv. p. 855), a single egg is produced, as in
Didus.
There yet remain several osteological peculiarities in the Dodo which are strongly