VERTEBRATA: AVES. 607 



has exhumed the bones of several forms (Graculavus and 

 Laornis) ; and other forms (Cimolornis) have been described 

 from the Cretaceous of Europe. In the Eocene Tertiary are 

 found several Natatorial birds, the most interesting of which 

 are the Gastornis Parisiensis and Agnopterus of the Paris 

 basin, the former being apparently a huge and wingless goose, 

 whilst the latter is allied to the Flamingoes. Under this order 

 also probably comes the extraordinary fossil bird, recently 

 described by Professor Owen, from the London Clay (Eocene) 

 of Sheppey under the name of Odontopteryx toliapicus. In 

 this singular bird (fig. 335) the alveolar margins of both jaws 

 are furnished with tooth-like denticulations, which differ from 

 true teeth in being actually parts of the osseous substance of 

 the jaw itself, with which they are continuous. They are of 

 triangular or compressed conical form, and are of two sizes, 

 the larger ones resembling canines. From the consideration 

 of all the discovered remains of this bird, Professor Owen con- 



Fig. 335. Skull of Odontopteryx toliapicus, restored. (After Owen.) 



eludes that " Odontopteryx was a warm - blooded feathered 

 biped, with wings ; and further, that it was web-footed and 

 a fish-eater, and that in the catching of its slippery prey it 

 was assisted by this Pterosauroid armature of its jaws." Upon 

 the whole, Odontopteryx would appear to be most nearly 

 allied to the Anatidce, but the denticulation of its jaws is an 

 entirely unique character. 



Leaving the Eocene, the Miocene and later Tertiary de- 

 posits have yielded the remains of numerous Swimming Birds, 

 as has also the Post-tertiary ; but no special interest attaches 

 to any of these, unless the great Cnemiornis of the Quaternary 

 of New Zealand be rightly referred here, since this has the 

 peculiarity of having been unable to fly. 



ORDER II. GRALLATORES. The birds comprising the order 

 of the GrallatoreS) or Waders, for the most part frequent the 

 banks of rivers and lakes, the shores of estuaries, marshes, 



