MNEMOSYNE, ne-mosi-ne, in Greek my thology, the goddess of memory; the mother of the nine muses of Zeus. She was a daughter of Uranus.
MOA, one of a race of extinct ratite flight less birds of New Zealand, forming the family Dinornithieler and composed of several genera (see DINORNITHES ) ranked between the apteryx and the epiornis. They had comparatively small heads, small eyes, bills of varied form,great legs, wings almost or quite wanting, and the head and neck bare. The feathers of the body were rounded, loose in part, downy, with great aftershafts. Some of the feathers were black with red-brown bases and white, others blackish brown or yellowish. They varied in size from that of a turkey (Anomalopieryx parva) so that of the huge Dinornis maximus, 12 feet in height. The remains of these birds are found in sand-dunes, bogs, caves and places where the aborigines had fed upon their flesh. Not only
bones, but pieces of skin, ligaments, feathers and eggs have been recovered. It is probable, indeed, that these birds became extinct only four or five centuries ago. The Maori tradi tions recount the wars of extermination which their early ancestors waged with the moa; and the natives profess to show the spot where the last one was killed. Clearer traditions say that the habits of the birds were sluggish, but their disposition fierce. They lived in pairs, fed upon green shoots and fern-roots and made rude nests on the ground. Their anatomy was elaborately described in a memoir by Owen, 'Extinct Birds of New Zealand' (London 1879), and a general account of them may be found in Newton's 'Dictionary of Birds' (ib. 1896) ; and Rothschild's 'Extinct Birds' (ib. 1907).