BIEDS 127 



feathering of the legs is an " imitation " of the wings. It 

 occurs in the domesticated birds more than in the wild, because 

 the former are protected from the struggle for existence, 

 and therefore their development tends to follow mere laws of 

 growth, like that of plants, and is not controlled, as in wild 

 birds, by the working of the body as a mechanism to effect 

 certain ends under certain conditions. It must not be 

 forgotten, moreover, that feathered legs occur in many species 

 of Gallinacei in the wild state, and in several breeds of 

 domesticated poultry as well as in pigeons. Such a variation 

 is similar to that of doubling in flowers, and is by no means 

 of the same kind as the modifications due to function or 

 stimulation. 



Dididce. The extinct birds forming the family Dididse 

 were allied to the pigeons, and are placed with them in the 

 same group or sub-order Columbae. One of these extinct 

 species was originally described as the Solitaire of the island 

 Kodriguez, by Francois Leguat, who resided in the island 

 from 1691 to 1693. The history of this bird and of our 

 knowledge of it may be read in the excellent article under 

 the name Solitaire in the Dictionary of Birds by Newton and 

 Gadow. Its great interest in relation to our subject consists 

 in the fact that the males were larger than the females, were 

 very pugnacious, and possessed a rounded protuberance on 

 the bone of the wing, which was used in fighting. This 

 protuberance was, according to Leguat's description, " as big 

 as a musket-ball," and the examination of the hundreds of 

 fossil bones which have been obtained shows that this was 

 no exaggeration. The bird was larger than a swan, the 

 males standing about 2 feet 9 inches high, and in some 

 cases reaching a weight of 45 lbs., while the females were 

 distinctly smaller. 



The protuberance mentioned is situated on the anterior 

 edge of the metacarpal bone, near its proximal extremity. 



