Largest organisms were related to the ostrich. They exceeded in height and . The last of the elephant birds became extinct about 300 years ago. Of almost exactly the same upper proportions as the largest elephant birds was "Dromornis stirtoni" of Australia, part of a 26,000-year-old group called mihirungs of the family Dromornithidae. The largest carnivorous bird was "Brontornis", an extinct flightless bird from South America which reached a weight of and a height of about . The tallest carnivorous bird was "Kelenken", which could reach 3 to 3.2 meters in height and 220 to 250 kilograms. The tallest bird ever was
François Lays on a high note, sent the minister a petition signed by almost all the stars of the Opéra and backed by Cherubini, asking for another benefit concert, in addition to the one three years earlier, this time in aid of his son who was working as a "saute-ruisseau"' at a notary’s and whose legal studies Lays could not afford to maintain. Inevitably the request fell on deaf ears. Lays also asked for his pension to be recalculated, bearing in mind his years teaching at the conservatory. But this led to disputes to which the correspondence between Cherubini and La Rochefoucauld