DIVISIONS OF BIRDS. 279 



of the Condor. It is entirely confined to the Pacific coast. The 

 Condor (Sarcorhampus gryphus) has a stretch of wing of 

 from 12 to 14 feet, and is usually seen soaring in majestic cir- 

 cles at great elevations, rising, it is said, to a height of over 

 20,000 feet. It inhabits the lofty mountain-ranges of the 

 Andes, and lays its eggs at a height of from 10,000 to 15,000 

 feet. 



ORDER VIII. SATJRTJRJS (Gr. saura, lizard ; our a, tail). 

 This order includes only the single extinct bird, the Archceop- 

 teryx, which has been found in the Oolitic rocks of Germany. 

 The Archceopteryx was about as big as a common Rook, and 

 shows many singular points of resemblance to the true Rep- 

 tiles. It differs from all living birds in having two free claws 

 to the wing, and in possessing a long, lizard-like tail. Instead 

 of the ploughshare-shaped bone which terminates the tail in 



FIG. 139. Archaeopteryx. Tail and detached bones. 



living birds (Fig. 129, B), the tail in the ArcJiceopteryx is very 

 long, and consists of about twenty distinct and separate ver- 

 tebrse, each of which supports a pair of quill-feathers. The 

 tail, therefore, except for the presence of feathers, must have 

 been very like that of a Lizard, 



