II NEORXITHES 2 ij 



ill number, with two, three, four, and five phalanges respectively, 

 ending in claws, the hallux being directed Ijackwards. The 

 nianus had three free digits, and apparently three free metacarpals ; 

 the pollex consisted of two joints, the index of three and the 

 third finger of four, while each had a strong hooked claw at the 

 tip. The hand was furnished with six or seven well-developed 

 primaries, attached to the third metacarpal and the second and 

 third digits, the number of secondaries being ten. The long Lizard- 

 like tail had no terminal pygostyle, but was composed of about 

 twenty-one free post-sacral vertebrae, of which the first twelve each 

 bore a pair of large feathers, similar to those of the wing, with 

 the inner webs broader than the outer, and with decided shafts.^ 



The Sub-class NEORNITHESmay be arranged, as above stated, 

 in three divisions, (A) Neornithes Ratitae, (P.) Neornithes Odon- 

 tolcae, and (C) Neornithes Carinatae. The first of these con- 

 tains the Eatite Birds proper and possibly part of the so-called 

 Stereorxithes of Patagonia (p. 43), with several fossil forms of 

 doubtful position from England, France, and New Mexico, as will 

 be seen ]_ielow; the second the Hesperornith es oi the Cretaceous 

 Shales of Kansas, the Exaliorxithes of the Cambridge Upper 

 Greensand, and Eaptornis of the American Chalk ; the third the 

 IcHTHYORXiTHES of the aforesaid Kansas deposits, and all other 

 existing Birds, with various extinct species closely allied to them. 



Of the points of distinction between the Neornithes and the 

 Archaeornithes the most important are that the metacarpals are 

 fused together, the second digit being the longest, and the third 

 more or. less reduced ; and that the nvnnber of caudal verte- 

 brae does not, as far as is known, exceed thirteen, of which the 

 last five or six combine together to form a pygostyle, except in 

 the Hesperornithes, Eatitae, and Tinamidae, where such is seldom 

 the case.^ The centra of the vertebrae also are concave on one 

 side only, except in Iclithyornis, and perhaps in Enaliornis. The 

 possession of teeth is, of course, exceptional, as is the remarkal)le 

 loss of the keel of the sternum in the Eatitae. 



It is now generally, if not universally, agreed tliat ITiglitless 

 Birds were developed from those that could fiy. It does not, 

 however, necessarily follow that the Neornithes are direct 



1 A doubtful genus, Laoi^erijx, has been described from tlie Jurassic by Marsli, 

 Ann. Nat. Hist. (.5) vii. 1881, p. 488. 



- H. Gadow, Bronn's Thier-Ilcicli, Aves, Syst. Thcil. 1893, p. !>0. 



