And now ... crypto-ornithology

["Geoffrey Dabb" <>]

In return for use of a photograph I have been sent a just-published little book entitled ‘Cryptozoology’ edited by Chad Arment.  About the only thing on birds is a fascinating chapter ‘Paul Gaugin’s Mystery Bird’ about the identity of a bird in a painting by Gauguin made in Hiva-Oa in 1902 a few months before his death.  The author’s conclusion is that the bird was a now-extinct (or probably extinct) Porphyrio species, and that Gauguin saw one being taken by a dog.