^°^i9lV"] ^^^^^*' Literature. 229 



is as surely doomed as though caught in the jaws of a more active enemy. 

 In rainy season the depression becomes further filled with the addition of 

 a super-stratum of water which may cover the tar surface to a depth of 

 several inches, remaining fairly pure water for some time before it becomes 

 polluted by the rise of the lighter constituents of the oil layer. Animals, 

 small and large, wade rashly into the treacherous trap thus baited with 

 that rare luxury of the region, water. The struggling victim becomes 

 again bait for the predatory forms, and all in turn tempt the carrion feeder. 

 To-day, as in ages past, the trap is at work. Barn Owls, Great Blue Herons, 

 Meadowlarks and other birds have been noticed in the surface pools, still 

 in the flesh" {I. c, p. 13). 



This treacherous region is situated ten miles west of Los Angeles, Cali- 

 fornia, on the old Rancho La Brea, formerly a grain and stock ranch, from, 

 which these fossiliferous asphalt strata have been named by Prof. J. C. 

 Merriam the "Rancho La Brea Formation." 



The avian remains which have been collected from these beds have been 

 studied by Mr. Miller, who has published two papers describing two re- 

 markable extinct types. His first paper ' deals with a fossil species of 

 Peacock, represented by a series of well-preserved tarso-metatarsal bones, 

 which are shorter and stouter than those of Pavo muticus, and much larger 

 than those of the common peacock. On the basis of this determination 

 Mr. Miller proceeds to comment on the former distribution of the genus 

 Pavo, fossil forms of which have been recorded from the Tertiary and 

 Quaternary formations of Europe and India, in comparison with its present 

 restricted range, the wild stock being now confined to southern Asia. 



The other form described by Mr. Miller ^ is a raptorial bird, much larger 

 and otherwise so different from any of the existing birds of prey, that the 

 propriety of recognizing it as referable to a new family (Teratornithidae) 

 is suggested. The species is represented by parts of several skulls and 

 other important fragments of the skeleton, as the sternum and pectoral 

 arch. The species is named Teratornis merriami, in honor of Prof. John C. 

 Merriam of the Lini versify of California, so well known for his important 

 investigations of the Quaternary vertebrate fossils of California. From 

 the comparative figures given of the reconstructed skull of Teratornis and 

 of skulls of the CaUfornia Condor and Bald Eagle, it is shown that Tera- 

 tornis was a bird of immense bulk, at least twice the size of the Condor and 

 several times larger than the Bald Eagle. 



Among the avian species thus far found in the Rancho La Brea beds are 

 the existing California Condor, the Turkey Vulture, Golden Eagle, various 

 species of hawks and owls, geese, the Great-Blue Heron, and Raven. The 



1 Pavo calif ornicus, A Fossil Peacock from the Quaternary Asphalt Beds of Rancho 

 La Brea. By Loj'e Hohnes Miller. University of California Publications, Bulletin 

 of the Depart, of Geology, Vol. V. No. 19, pp. 285-289, pi. xv. August, 1909. 



2 Teratornis, a new Avian genus from Rancho La Brea. Ibid., V, No. 21, pp. SOS- 

 SI?, with 11 text figures. September, 1909. 



