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
Great Bird Island, Antigua Great Bird Island, Antigua Great Bird Island is a tiny islet lying almost three kilometres north-east of Antigua. Measuring just , smaller than most city parks, it is the only place on Earth where you can see an Antiguan racer ("Alsophis antiguae") in the wild. The entire world population of this snake no longer lives on just the one island. Named by sailors who were amazed at the number of birds that they found living and nesting there, Great Bird Island is a miniature paradise. As well as being the last refuge of the Antiguan racer, it is also home