Animals Before Man 



much smaller, being not over one-fourth the 

 weight of the other species. These birds were 

 clad in rather coarse feathers, a little like those 

 of the emu, but not so long. This is known 

 from the impressions of feathers preserved in 

 the chalk. 



The birds of the genus Ichthyornis (fish 

 bird *) differed decidedly from Hesperornis in 

 possessing the power of flight, although this is 

 not the reason why they are placed in another 

 order. That is done on account of the differ- 

 ences between the birds in the back-bone, teeth, 

 and other parts of the skeleton. No species of 

 Ichthyomis was larger than a small gull or a 

 large tern, birds that they doubtless resembled 

 in habits and veiy .probably in appearance. 

 The nearest living relatives are distant and un- 

 certain, but are believed to be the cormorants. 



So far no relatives of our toothed Cretaceous 

 birds have been discovered abroad ; but fossil 

 birds are rare at the best, so this is not to be 

 wondered at. 



* So named because, as stated above, some of the vertebrae 

 are cup-shaped at either end, like those of fishes. 



184 



