Extinct birds, illustration. Seen are 1. Chatham rail (Cabalus modestus), an extinct flightless species of bird in the family Rallidae. It was endemic to Chatham, Mangere and Pitt Islands, in the Chatham archipelago of New Zealand. 2. The New Zealand quail (Coturnix novaezelandiae), or koreke in Maori, is an extinct quail species endemic to New Zealand. The male and female were similar, except the female was lighter. The first scientist to describe it was Sir Joseph Banks when he visited New Zealand on James Cook's first voyage. Illustration by Henrik Gronvold from 'Extinct Birds: an attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times: that is, within the last six or seven hundred years: to which are added a few which still exist, but are on the verge of extinction' by Baron, Lionel Walter Rothschild, published in 1907. |