i?92-l Elliot, Inheritance of Ac(/Hired Characters. lOI 



suppose, from the production of hereditary ellccts than to a pre- 

 disposition of the germ, or selection, for there is no i-eason to 

 suppose that this especial species of Auk, the largest and most 

 powerful of the family, should have been in any way more 

 predisposed to a degeneration of any of its organs than were any 

 of its relatives, which have not degenerated, and which from 

 their structure were no better fitted for the struggle for existence. 



The Ostrich probably has descended from ancestors capable of 

 flight, but they, we may suppose, did not possess so great a stature 

 because a bird of that size would require such an expansion of 

 wing that it hardly would be available to any creature other than 

 a pelagic species. This ancestor was also a ground-feeding bird, 

 and it is to be supposed that from physical changes occurring in 

 its habitat it was obliged to rely more upon its legs than on its 

 wings in order to procure a sufficiency of food, or escape from its 

 enemies. Then the wings became reduced in size and the thighs 

 correspondingly increased, and the legs not only were a means to 

 enable the bird to travel with great swiftness, but also became a 

 powerful weapon of offence or defence. Although the Ostrich 

 is unable to fly at the present day, yet the manner in which it 

 uses its wings when running, elevating them, and keeping them 

 stationary as a bird does when sailing in the air, may be regarded 

 as a trait derived from its flying ancestor, the only one appertain- 

 ing to flight which its rudimentary wing permits it to retain. 



I have by no means exhausted the evidence derived from birds, 

 which strengthen us in the belief that acquired characters may be 

 inherited ; and I think the majority of ornithologists will agree with 

 Prof. Lloyd Morgan* when he says : "I confess when I look round 

 upon the varied habits of birds and mammals, when I see the Frigate 

 Bird robbing the Fish Hawk of the prey that it has captured 

 from the sea, the bald-headed chimpanzee adopting a diet of 

 small birds, a Semnopithecus in the Mergui Archipelago eating 

 Crustacea and mollusca, and the Koypu, a rodent, living on 

 shell fish ; when I consider the divergence of habits in almost 

 every group of organisms, the Ground Pigeons, Rock Pigeons 

 and Wood Pigeons, seed-eating Pigeons and fruit-eating Pigeons ; 

 the carrion-eating, insect-eating, and fruit-eating Crows, the 

 aquatic and terrestrial Kingfishers, some living on fish, some on 



*Anim. Life and Intell. p. 446, 



