VIII 



FEATHERED GIANTS 



" There were giaiils in the earth in those days." 



Nearly every group of animals has its giants, 

 its species which tower above their feUows as 

 Goliath of Gath stood head and shoulders 

 above the Philistine hosts ; and while some of 

 these are giants only in comparison with their 

 fellows, belonging to families whose members 

 are short of stature, others are sufficiently 

 great to be called giants under any circum- 

 stances. Some of these giants live to-day, 

 some have but recently passed away, and some 

 ceased to be long ages before man trod this 

 earth. The most gigantic of mammals — the 

 whales — still survive, and the elephant of to- 

 day suffers but little in comparison with the 

 mammoth of yesterday ; the monstrous Dino- 

 saurs, greatest of all reptiles — greatest, in 

 fact, of all animals that have walked the 



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