42 



A HISTORY OF BIRDS 



or " raft-breasted " birds. And, by way of qualifying this 

 arrangement, it was pointed out that in the structure of the 

 palate these " Ratitas " differed fundamentally from all other 

 birds, past and present. As a matter of fact the raft-like 

 character of the breast-bone is of no real importance, no guide 

 as to questions of affinity : it is a secondary, degenerate char- 



Umm4 A 



III. 13. — Restoration of Arch^eopteryx (after Pycraft) 



acter, which has been independently acquired by many birds, 

 though in no case so completely as in the " Ratitae ". The 

 structure of the palate is, on the other hand, of supreme import- 

 ance in this connection. So far from being fundamentally 

 different from that of flying birds, it is now clear, as the present 

 writer has shown, that the palate in the flightless and flying 

 forms is fundamentally similar. That this is so a brief review of 

 the main features of this palate, and its evolution, will make clear. 

 In the Emu and Cassowary we have this palate in its 

 simplest form. Its chief characteristic is the enormous size of 



