In 1894 David Lyall, the lighthouse keeper on the Stephen's Island, a small island off the coast of New Zealand, discovered an entirely new species of bird. In fact, it was the lighthouse keeper's cat that found the bird. When Lyall looked at the dead bird he realised he did not recognise it and sent it to London to be identified. The bird turned out to be the only flightless songbird in the world and was named in Lyall's honour - Traversia lyalli, or the Stephen's Island wren. But within weeks of the bird's discovery, Lyall's cat had slaughtered all the wrens, making this the shortest recorded interval between discovery and extinction. - Whitaker's World of Facts, Russell Ash
In 1894 David Lyall, the lighthouse keeper on the Stephen's Island, a small island off the coast of New Zealand, discovered an entirely new species of bird. In fact, it was the lighthouse keeper's cat that found the bird. When Lyall looked at the dead bird he realised he did not recognise it and sent it to London to be identified. The bird turned out to be the only flightless songbird in the world and was named in Lyall's honour - Traversia lyalli, or the Stephen's Island wren. But within weeks of the bird's discovery, Lyall's cat had slaughtered all the wrens, making this the shortest recorded interval between discovery and extinction. - Whitaker's World of Facts, Russell Ash
Sad end for flightless bird
In 1894 David Lyall, the lighthouse keeper on the Stephen's Island, a small island off the coast of New Zealand, discovered an entirely new species of bird. In fact, it was the lighthouse keeper's cat that found the bird. When Lyall looked at the dead bird he realised he did not recognise it and sent it to London to be identified. The bird turned out to be the only flightless songbird in the world and was named in Lyall's honour - Traversia lyalli, or the Stephen's Island wren. But within weeks of the bird's discovery, Lyall's cat had slaughtered all the wrens, making this the shortest recorded interval between discovery and extinction. - Whitaker's World of Facts, Russell Ash
In 1894 David Lyall, the lighthouse keeper on the Stephen's Island, a small island off the coast of New Zealand, discovered an entirely new species of bird. In fact, it was the lighthouse keeper's cat that found the bird. When Lyall looked at the dead bird he realised he did not recognise it and sent it to London to be identified. The bird turned out to be the only flightless songbird in the world and was named in Lyall's honour - Traversia lyalli, or the Stephen's Island wren. But within weeks of the bird's discovery, Lyall's cat had slaughtered all the wrens, making this the shortest recorded interval between discovery and extinction. - Whitaker's World of Facts, Russell Ash
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