396 



GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



aid in the restoration of such birds in those parts of the 

 United States adapted thereto where the same have become 

 scarce or extinct, and also to regulate the introduction of 

 American or foreign birds or animals in localities where they 

 have not heretofore existed." By its provision the preserva- 

 tion of birds is placed under the jurisdiction of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. The importation of foreign wild birds 

 is forbidden without permits from the department, and in- 

 terstate traffic in birds killed in violation of state laws is 

 prohibited. This is the most sweeping act of legislation in 

 favor of birds ever attempted, and it is confidently expected 

 to give them a great measure of protection. As one result of 

 the interest in the study of birds in the schools several states 

 have set apart a Bird Day, which is observed after the fashion 



of Arbor Day, and oftentimes 

 in connection with it. The first 

 Bird Day was observed in Penn- 

 \/> m, sylvania, May 4, 1894. 



Geological Development of 

 Birds. The earliest remains of 

 birds of which we have any 

 knowledge come from the Age 

 of Reptiles. The oldest of 

 these remains is the famous 

 fossil known as Archwop'teryx 

 (Fig. 209), two specimens of 

 which have been found in 

 Bavaria. The ancestry of all known birds is therefore to be 

 traced back, at least so far as our knowledge goes, to these 

 two specimens. Archseopteryx was a land bird about the size 

 of a crow, probably arboreal in its habits, though not neces- 

 sarily a good flier. It had true feathers, but it was very 

 different from the birds of to-day in that it possessed teeth 

 and a long, lizard-like tail of about twenty vertebra*. These 



FIG. 209. Archseopteryx. (After 

 Pycraft) 



