Shannon Bruce, age 13, of Johnson City, Tenn., for her question:

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DODO BIRD?

Dodo is the name of a bird that is now extinct. The last surviving one died on the island of Mauritius late in the year 1681. Here'b how you pronounce the bird's name: DOUGH dough.

The dodo was a comical looking bird about the size of a swan. It had a hook tipped bill, little wings and a tuft of curly feathers for a tail. It was related to the pigeon but it could not fly. It had no enemies. It lived in Mauritius and on other islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar.

Because they looked so funny, the Portuguese sailors in the 16th Century gave them the name, which means "silly" or "foolish." The waddling doao had no way to protect itself.

The sailors knocked the birds over with clubs and used them for foots. Later hogs were brought to the islands and allowed to run loose. They destroyed the dodo's eggs and young. Soon the bird was extinct.