Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 2, 1891.djvu/417

Rh and which darkened the air as it soared aloft—with other like marvels—took their rise, or were suggested by, the existence of these immense Æpyornis eggs from Madagascar. It is well known that the Arabs have had intercourse with the island from very ancient times, and it is possible that, having seen an egg that so largely exceeded in size that of any other bird, they concluded that the bird laying such an egg must have been able to do the wonderful things ascribed to it in their popular stories. As may be seen, however, by looking at the structure of its feet, the Æpyornis was not only incapable of holding even a mouse in its claws, but it probably could never have lifted itself a yard from the ground. Yet, in the absence of any knowledge of the bird itself, the conclusions the Arabs drew from the size of the eggs were not very absurd, especially in an age when all the unknown was marvellous, and when so much that was both wonderful and true was being constantly discovered by their daring navigators and explorers.

In this concluding section of the paper I will gather together a few particulars about the of Madagascar, about which there is naturally more folk-lore material available than is the case with regard to those birds which are only occasionally—some of them rarely—seen and observed by the people. The most important and valuable additions made to the indigenous avi-fauna of the country are the Fowl, the Duck, the Goose, the Turkey, and the Muscovy Duck. The last of these is the least common, although it is still tolerably plentiful, but all the others are very widely spread over the country, and form most valuable additions to its food-supply. Almost every cottage in the island has its fowls, and in the interior provinces large quantities of ducks and geese are reared, not only for home consumption, but also for sending down to the coast, and for sale to the foreign shipping.

The Turkey is called by the Malagasy Vòrontsilòza, which literally means the "Not-fierce-bird"—an odd name