Page:Condor21(3).djvu/6

100 THt?. CONDOR Vol. XXI examples of the eggs and a few of the bones were secured and sent to France, when Geoffroy--St.Hilaire gave them the technical.name Aepyornis maxim.u?. Eggs have been brought to light at rare intervals since then, the specimen here shown being the first to reach America. This was imported by the late Robert Gilfort, of Orange, New Jersey , and from whose estate it was purchased by Mr. Wm. C. Bradbury, and donated by him to the museum. "Measurements prove this example to exceed, by a full half inch, the dimensions of other recorded specimens; but its giant proportions can not be appreciated except by comparison with modern eggs. Calculations in dis- Fig. 22. PORTION OF 6URFACE OF AEPYORNIS EGG, NATURAL SIZE, TO SIIOW DETAIL OF TEXTURE. placement show the Aepyornis egg to be equivalent to each of the following number of eggs of modern species: "Ostrich, 7 1/3; Albatross, 24 2/3; Goose, 40; Duck, 109 2/3; Hen, 183; Pigeon, 469; and Hummingbird 12,062. "The dimensions of this Aepyornis egg are 9 9/16 by 13 inches. Insuffici- ent'skeletal remains have been discovered to determine the size of the Aepyor- his. Complete skeletons of the Moa show the latter bird to exceed ten feet in height, while its egg measures but 6? by 10? inches. Comparative estimates to determine the height of the Aepyornis, however, are likely to be misleading, because of the evidence that birds do not always lay eggs to conform with their