qi miao dao yu 18

Song 奇妙岛屿 18
Artist 英语听力
Album BBC南太平洋

Lyrics

[00:00.00] The cats were removed from Stephens Island,
[00:03.22] but it was too late for the wren.
[00:05.13] Now only known from a few cat-chewed museum specimens,
[00:08.75] evolving to be flightless had proven fatal.
[00:12.26] So it seems there is a trade-off.
[00:14.29] The freedom of island life allows a species to relax its guard,
[00:18.61] but that can leave it defenceless.
[00:21.56] on the main islands of New Zealand,
[00:23.85] similar dramas have played out time and time again.
[00:27.56] Forests dominated by giant kauri trees once covered the North Island.
[00:32.97] The fragments that remain look much like they have for millennia,
[00:36.49] but looks can be deceiving.
[00:38.52] A few centuries ago,
[00:39.82] this forest echoed with the calls of strange and wonderful birds.
[00:44.76] Most famous was the giant moa,
[00:47.33] which looked a bit like an ostrich,
[00:49.24] but taller than an elephant.
[00:51.04] And there are many more birds
[00:52.83] whose haunting songs now exist here only in memory.