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points. A good idea of this group of birds may be obtained by 

 an inspection of the skeletons in the Geological Hall, where may 

 be found one of the finest series extant in any museum. 



Order II, ^piornithes, consists of the extinct gigantic birds 

 of Madagascar; the larger, called JE-piornis maxima, was of about 

 the height of a large African Ostrich. It is known only from 

 portions of its skeleton and its eggs, found in a fossil state. 

 Its bulk must have been enormous, its egg being six times as large 

 as an Ostrich's egg, and equal in capacity to 150 hen's eggs. A 

 cast of one of its eggs may be seen in Case T of the Geological 

 Hall. 



Order III, Apteryges, consists of the singular looking Kiwis, of 

 which four species are known, all inhabiting New Zealand. As 

 their Latin name {Apferyx) implies, they are practically wingless, 

 the wings being reduced to mere rudiments. They are also tail- 

 less. Their feathers are narrow and bristly, and the bill is long and 

 Snipe-like, with the nostrils situated near the tip. Several exam- 

 ples of these highly grotesque birds may be seen in Case K. 



Order IV, Crypfnri, is a peculiar group of South American 

 birds, the Tinamous, numbering about fifty species, and occurring 

 from Costa Rica southward to Paraguay. They are ground birds, 

 of weak flight, allied in many features to the Ostriches, Rheas, 

 and Cassowaries. Several species are represented in Cases J and K. 



The name Gastornithes is given to a group (questionably of 

 ordinal value) of extinct, gigantic, little-known birds, whose frag- 

 mentary remains have been found in Europe and in New Mexico. 



Order V, Impennes, or Ptilopteri, comprises the single family 

 {Spheniscidce) of Penguins — aquatic, flightless birds, restricted to 

 the coasts and islands of the southern continents, and mainly to 

 their southern borders. In South Africa they are not known to 

 range further than 25° south lat. ; nor beyond 35° south lat. in 

 Australia. In South America they reach the Galapagos Islands 

 on the west coast, and Ascension Island on the east coast, with 

 the Falkland Islands as their principal metropolis. On the land 



