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 Moas, 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 24 inches in diameter, or 44 inches 
across the ends, while the tarsus, or lower bone 
of the leg to which the toes are attached, was 
165 inches long and 54 inches wide where the 
toes join on. Bear this in mind the next time 
you see a large turkey, or compare these bones 
