146 EXTINCT SPECIES. 



species of dinornis. The largest individuals of one species, 

 according to him, could not have been less than four yards 

 high. According to the same naturalist, moreover, these birds 

 were not ^remarkable by their size alone ; they had, he avers, 

 certain peculiarities of form, establishing a link between 

 them and the cassowary and apteryx: the latter a curious 

 bird still found in New Zealand, but very rare. 



Of colossal dimensions as were the dinornis and epiornis, 

 the size of both sinks into insignificance by comparison with 

 another giant bird, traces of which, and only traces, are dis- 

 coverable in North America, at the epoch when the deposit of 

 the conchy lian stage of Massachusetts was yet soft enough 

 to yield under the feet of creatures stepping upon its surf ace. 

 Footsteps, indeed, are the only traces left of these giant birds, 

 and they are found side by side with the imprints of drops of 

 rain which fell on the yielding surface in those early times. 

 Mostly the footmarks only correspond with three toes, but 

 occasionally there are traces of a fourth a toe comparable to 

 a thumb, only directed forwards, not backwards. Marks of 

 claws are occasionally found. Every trace and lineament of 

 the Mississippian bird is marvellously exceptional. The feet 

 must have been no less than fifteen inches long, without reck- 

 oning the hinder claw; the length of which alone is two 

 inches. The width must have been ten inches. The inter- 

 vals between these footmarks correspond evidently with the 

 stride of the monster, which got over the ground by covering 

 successive stages of from four to five feet ! When we con- 

 sider that the stride of an ostrich is no more than from ten 

 to twelve inches, the application of this record will be obvious. 

 Here closes the testimony already revealed in respect of this 

 bird, except we also refer to it which is apocryphal certain 

 coproliths, or excrementitious matters, found in the same for- 

 mation. 



For the preceding facts naturalists are indebted to the in- 

 vestigations of Mr. Hitchcock. The evidence adduced leaves 



