CH. l] FOSSIL REPRESENTATIVES. 29 



plumage between the sexes which is often developed to so 

 extraordinary an extent in the other members of the 

 group. In many birds which are presumed to be of an 

 ancient type, for instance the Ostrich tribe, there is the 

 same absence of strongly marked secondary sexual 

 characters in colouration. In this particular enquiry we 

 cannot unfortunately get any assistance whatsoever from 

 Paleontology ; the only fossil Megapode recorded in 

 Lydekker's Catalogue of Fossil Birds is Talegalla 

 lathami, a species now living ; there is no information 

 as to extinct Cracidse. The Alectoropodes on the other 

 hand, are much more nearly connected among themselves. 

 Fiirbringer, indeed, does not divide them further 1 . The 

 Guinea-fowls perhaps are the most distinct group ; but 

 the Argus, Pheasant and the Peacock are looked upon 

 by Fiirbringer as somewhat intermediate between them 

 and the more typical Phasianidse. About this group of 

 Gallinacese there is some palaeontological information ; a 

 few existing species (Lagopus albas, Francolinus pictus) 

 have been described from the Pleistocene of Europe 

 and India respectively ; the extinct genus Palceortyx, 

 " Partridge-like birds," containing eight species, occurs in 

 the Eocene and Miocene of Europe ; three species of an 

 allied genus, Palcuoperdix, are also found in the Miocene 

 of Europe; five species of Phasianus have been found in the 

 Pliocene and Miocene of Europe ; four species of Gallus 

 occur in the " superficial deposits " of New Zealand, the 

 " Cavern-deposits of the Lahn valley, Germany " and the 

 Pliocene of France ; of greater interest is the genus Tao- 



1 Nor Gadow with any confidence, see Bronn's " Thierreich." Aves. 



