FEATHERED GIANTS 149 



that the finder dubbed it Phororhacos, and so 

 it must remain. 



It is a pity that all the large names were 

 used up before this group of birds was discov- 

 ered, and it is particularly unfortunate that 

 Dinornis, terrible bird, was applied to the root- 

 eating JNIoas, for these Patagonian birds, with 

 their massive limbs, huge heads and hooked 

 beaks, were truly worthy of such a name ; and 

 although in nowise related to the eagles, they 

 may in habit have been terrestrial birds of prey. 

 Not all the members of this family are giants, 

 for as in other groups, some are big and some 

 little, but the largest among them might be 

 styled the Daniel Lambert of the feathered 

 race. Brontornis, for example, the thunder 

 bird, or as the irreverent translate it, the thun- 

 dering big bird, had leg- bones larger than those 

 of an ox, the drumstick measuring 30 inches in 

 length by 2j inches in diameter, or 4^ inches 

 across the ends, while the tarsus, or lower bone 

 of the leg to which the toes are attached, was 

 16 J inches long and 5^ inches wide where the 

 toes join on. Bear this in mind the next time 

 you see a large turkey, or compare these bones 



