BIRDS OF OLD 83 



the most aquatic of recent birds, an instance of 

 similarly poor covering. As all know who have 

 seen this bird at home, its feathers shed the wa- 

 ter very imperfectly, and after long- continued 

 submersion become saturated, a fact which part- 

 ly accounts for the habit the bird has of hanging 

 itself out to dry, 



The restoration which Mr. Gleeson has drawn 

 differs radically from any yet made, and is the 

 result of a careful study of the specimen be- 

 longing to the United States National Museum. 

 No one can appreciate the peculiarities of Hes- 

 perornis and its remarkable departures from 

 other swimming birds who has not seen the 

 skeleton mounted in a swimming attitude. 

 The great length of the legs, their position at 

 the middle of the body, the narrowness of the 

 body back of the hip joint, and the dispropor- 

 tionate length of the outer toe are all brought 

 out in a manner which a picture of the bird 

 squatting upon its haunches fails utterly to 

 show. As for the tail, it is evident from the 

 size and breadth of the bones that something 

 of the kind was present ; it is also evident that 

 it was not like that of an ordinary bird, and so 



