BIRDS OF OLD 79 



for them. When, in 1877, a more complete 

 example was found, the existence of teeth was 

 unmistakably shown ; but in the meantime, 

 in February, 1873, Professor Marsh had an- 

 nounced the presence of teeth in Hesperornis, 

 and so to him belongs the credit of being the 

 discoverer of birds with teeth. 



The next birds that we know are from our 

 own country, and although separated by an in- 

 terval of thousands of years from the Jurassic 

 Archeeopteryx, time enough for the members 

 of one group to have quite lost their wings, they 

 still retain teeth, and in this respect the most 

 bird like of them is quite unlike any modern bird. 

 These come from the chalk beds of western 

 Kansas, and the first specimens were obtained 

 by Professor Marsh in his expeditions of 1870 

 and 1871, but not until a few years later, after 

 the material had been cleaned and was being 

 studied, was it ascertained that these birds were 

 armed with teeth. The smaller of these birds, 

 which was apparently not unlike a small gull 

 in general appearance, was, saving its teeth, so 

 thoroughly a bird that it may be passed by with- 

 out further notice, but the larger was remark- 



