Largest organisms is frequently poorly documented and many are subject to conjecture and estimation. The largest living bird, a member of the Struthioniformes, is the common ostrich ("Struthio camelus"), from the plains of Africa and Arabia. A large male ostrich can reach a height of and weigh over . A mass of has been cited for the common ostrich but no wild ostriches of this weight have been verified. Eggs laid by the ostrich can weigh and are the largest eggs in the world today. The largest bird in the fossil record may be the extinct elephant birds ("Aepyornis") of Madagascar, which
François Lays him. The first Restoration was quite mild and the only significant penalty Lays suffered was his dismissal from the former Chapelle Impériale with a resulting loss of income. When Napoleon returned to power for the so-called Hundred Days, Lays was inevitably reinstated in his post and he enthusiastically participated in the "Te Deum" of thanks. The second Restoration of the Bourbons was more serious for Lays. At the express wish of Louis XVIII he was again expelled – this time for good – from the new Chapelle Royale, but in return, in 1816, he was named professor of declamatory singing