THE MOA'S EGG.

Wellington Independent, Volume XIX, Issue 2116, 15 October 1864, Page 3

THE MOA'S EGG.

(To the J£ditor of the Wellington Independent.) Dear Sic, — My attention was called a day or two ago to an article inthe Spectator, September 24, 1864, in reference to what the editor of that journal informs us is a Moa's egg (shell.) Having for a length of time understood that more than one specimen in a more or less perfect state bfid been sent to England, I cannot agree with the editor of tbe Spectator in his proposal to make the British Museum its ultimate destination ; it would indeed be its second interment with very little, if any, chance of its over again seeing tho light. As an unaccountable feeling appears to exist in Wellington against the formation of a Museum, I would suggest that the people of Nelson or Canterbury would accept of the shell in order to preserve the specimen, altbough only the shell of an egg. The skeleton of tbo Maori, described as holding tho shell in his hands, would in the meantime suggest the idea that he had sucked the contents and died of a surfeit. Futuro enquiries may bring other facts to light. In the meantime I have certainly seen a Maori swallow (with a due proportion of potatoes) I from 30 to 40 hen's oggs, many of them containing a fully developed chick. In conclusion, I repeat that every effort should be made to preserve tbe specimen from a second intorment, and remain, dear sir, Your's faithfully,