Æpyornis Island Æpyornis Island "Æpyornis Island", or "Aepyornis Island", is a short story by H. G. Wells, first published in 1894 in the "Pall Mall Budget". It was included in "The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents", the first collection of short stories by Wells, first published in 1895. In the story, a man looking for eggs of "Aepyornis", an extinct flightless bird, passes two years alone on a small island with an "Aepyornis" that has hatched. "Aepyornis maximus" (the Giant elephant-bird) was a giant flightless bird that lived in Madagascar; it became extinct probably because it was hunted excessively by humans. The
Rotamah Island Bird Observatory Rotamah Island Bird Observatory Rotamah Island Bird Observatory was established in 1979 on Rotamah Island in the Gippsland Lakes National Park in eastern Victoria, Australia, by Birds Australia as Australia's second bird observatory, in order to provide a base for the study and enjoyment of the birds of the area. Rotamah Island had previously been a farming property, and the observatory was established in 'Overstrand', the homestead built in 1908. In 1985 the observatory was visited by Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. The natural vegetation of Rotamah Island is eucalypt woodland. There is also a causeway linking the