92 ANIMALS OF THE PAST 



closely allied, and the creeping snake and the 

 bird on which it preys are relatives, although 

 any intimate relationship between them is of 

 the serpent's making, and is strongly objected 

 to by the bird. 



But if we compare the skeleton of a Dino- 

 saur with that of an ostrich — a young one is 

 preferable — - and with those of the earlier birds, 

 we shall find that many of the barriers now ex- 

 isting between reptiles and birds are broken 

 down, and that they have many points in com- 

 mon. In fact, save in the matter of clothes, 

 wherein birds differ from all other animals, the 

 two great groups are not so very far apart. 



The Dinosaurs were by no means confined 

 to North America, although the western United 

 States seem to have been their headquarters, 

 but ranged pretty much over the world, for 

 their remains have been found in every conti- 

 nent, even in far-off New Zealand. 



In point of time they ranged from the Trias 

 to the Upper Cretaceous, their golden age, 

 marking the culminating point of reptilian life, 

 being in the Jurassic, when huge forms stalked 

 by the sea-shore, browsed amid the swamps, or 



