﻿OF THE VALLEY OF THE CONNECTICUT. 217 



smaller and not quite so perfect. The impress is deep and clear, the outer toe is long 

 and tapering, and all the toes exhibit the articulating ranks. The impress of the middle 

 and inner toes is slightly distorted, yet the appearance of the fossil is expressive. The 

 tarsus is slightly impressed. From its analogy to Fig. 2, it might be supposed to be the 

 young of that species ; which cannot be the case, for the stride is invariably very long. In 

 this instance it is twenty-two inches. The line of four impressions, running upward 

 through the centre of Plate I., was impressed by this species. 



Figs. 3 and 4. These drawings represent a magnificent species of footprint, which 

 I have selected to illustrate the probability, that certain analogous impressions, differing 

 in magnitude, are due to an identical species, being impressed by individuals in various 

 stages of development. The distinctive marks of organization are very striking. The 

 foot is long, narrow, and distinctly impressed. A peculiar mark of distinction in this 

 species is the shortness of the outer toe, projecting backward and forward little more 

 than the inner toe. In Figs. 1 and 2, the outer toe is relatively very long ; in this species, 

 it is relatively very short. Another remarkable distinction is the circumstance, that the 

 lateral toes embrace and modify the form of the first joint of the central toe. The lat- 

 eral toes diverge less than in other species. The tarsus is invariably impressed, and its 

 lobes and those of the respective joints are exceedingly massive. The nails are perfectly 

 denned. Those terminating the lateral toes have an unusual divergence. The step 

 is very long, in the figures being about two feet. The bird was doubtless of great 

 relative magnitude, for the impress, like that of Fig. 2, is always perfect, a circumstance 

 resulting from condensation by great pressure. The concavities of the joints are smooth, 

 polished, and lustrous. These large and powerful birds appear to have outlived other 

 species, for while they became extinct, or at least disappear, these are found under all 

 circumstances. They abound at Turner's Falls, where the strata rest upon a base of 

 igneous rock, and also at the Race, several miles distant, and at intermediate places. 

 Figs. 3 and 4 are represented upon Plate II. in consecutive order. If the reader 

 will turn to Fig. 4, Plate III., he will see that it bears unimpeachable analogy to the 

 figures under consideration, and a regular gradation in point of size connects them, ex- 

 tending to impressions of more than one foot in length, (I have seen them of eighteen 

 inches,) with a stride of four feet. 



Plate V. 



The footsteps upon this plate are, I think, identical with those of Fig. 4, Plate III. : 

 Figs. 3 and 4, Plate IV., being impressed by larger individuals, upon strata of different 

 degrees of resistance. Fig. 1 is deep, while Fig. 2 is a very superficial impression. In 



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