274 



AVES 



Cheiiomorphae, by others to the Herodiones, their affinities to both leading 

 Huxley to place them in a separate group termed Amphimorphae. It may be 

 that we have in the flamingoes the survivors of a group from which both the 

 storks and ducks were derived, since the group is an old one and its i;ange 

 formerly much more extensive than at j)resent. The earliest known member 

 is Scaniornis, from the Cretaceous of Sweden, while the allied genus Agnopterus 

 comes from the Eocene of the Paris Basin, and Elornis from the Eocene and 

 Miocene. Several species of Palaeolodus, a shorter-legged bird than the 



flamingo, also occur in the 

 Miocene of France, and a 

 true Phoenicopferus in the 

 Pliocene of Oregon and 

 Miocene of France. 



Gastornis, from the Eocene 

 of Europe, is a large bird, 

 placed at first with the 

 ostriches, but more generally 

 regarded as an aberrant 

 member of the Chenomorphae. 

 It is remarkable from the 

 fact that the bones of the 

 skull seem to have remained 

 free from one another 

 throughout life. 



Ducks are not uncommon 

 in the Miocene of France 

 and Pliocene of Oregon, and 

 a large, fiightless species, 

 Onemiornis ccdcitrans, occurs 

 in the Pleistocene of New 

 Zealand. This bird well 

 exemplifies some of the ditfi- 

 culties in the way of deter- 

 mining the exact affinities 

 from isolated bones, since 

 from the tibia Owen considered it to belong with the Moas, while from the 

 sternum Parker believed it to be a rail ; the discovery of the skull showed it 

 to be unequivocally a goose. Numerous species of Anas (Fig. 373), as well 

 as isolated representatives of Anser, Cygnus, Fuligula, Spatula, Mergus, and the 

 like are known from the late Tertiary of various European localities. 



Anas UancJiardi 

 France. Restoration of skeleton 



Fig. 373. 

 Miliie-Edw. Miocone ; St. Gerand-le-Puy, 



i (after Milne-Edwards). 



Order 5. HERODII. 



The Herodii, containing the herons, storks, and ibises, may be defined as 

 wading birds with unusually long legs, having desmognathous skulls without 

 basipterygoid processes, and (save for few exceptions) with the angle of the 

 mandible truncate, the exceptions occurring in the spoonbills, Platalea. 



The herons appear first in the Lower Eocene, Proherodius occurring in 

 England, and Gypsornis and Propelargus from the Upper Eocene of France. 

 An ibis, Ihidopsis, is found in the Upper Eocene of England, and Ibidopodia in 



