The Dodo
The D odo use d t o walk arou n d An d t ake t he su n and bre athe t he ai r. The sun y et warms his n at ive gro un dThe D odo is n o t there !
The vo ice whi ch u sed to sq uaw k an d s que ak I s n ow fore ve r dumbYe t may yo u s ee his bo n es and be ak All i n the muse um
Hi lai re Bel lo c, 1898
The D odo is a n e xt in ct fli ghtle ss b ird that li ved o n the isl and o f Mau rit iu s, east o f Ma dagascar, in t he I n dia n Oc ean I t was a bo ut thre e fee t tall an d we i ghe d b e twe en 22- 40 l bs. It has b ee n de pic te d wi th b row ni sh-grey plu mage , y el lo w fe et , a tu ft o f ta il feat hers, a gre y, na ked hea d an d a bl ack, ye ll ow, an d gre en b eak . The fi rs t me nt io n o f the D od o bi rd was by D ut ch sai lo rs i n 159 8 I n the fo llo wi ng y e ars , t he bi rd w as pre ye d u pon b y hu n gry sai lo rs, t hei r do me sti cate d ani mals and in vasi ve spe cie s i n tro duce d duri ng t hat ti me. The last si ght in g o f a Do do wa s i n 1 662 . I t gai ne d w ide sprea d re cogn it io n fro m i ts ro le i n the sto ry "Al ice i n W on de rlan d," an d i t ha s be co me a sy mbo l of ex ti nct io n an d o bso le sce n ce throu gh suc h phrases as: "d ead as a D odo , " a nd "t o go the way o f the D o do. " The e xt in cti o n of the D od o wi thi n on ly abo u t a ce nt ury of it s di sco ve ry cal le d at te nt io n to t he pre vi ou sly un rec ogn iz ed prob le m o f human i n vol veme nt i n the di sappe arane o f e nt ire spe ci es
* t he vo cal so un d " do " shou ld be pro no un ce d as "do u gh"
* t he sp oke n se cti o n i s o pt io na l