54 The Archaeopteryx, or Lizard-tailed Bird 



where between these extremes. Present knowledge does not permit a positive 

 assertion that the tail could be raised or depressed at will, or the pairs of feathers 

 spread or closed, though both conditions might readily have been possible, for 

 a very small tendon would have been ample provision for the manipulation of 

 these parts without any trace of its presence appearing on the bones. 



ArdicEopteryx had four toes, and the whole leg and foot appeared very much 

 like those of an ordinary perching bird, except that the tibia and fibula were 

 distinct, as in most reptiles. The anterior limbs, however, are very curiously 

 modified. The wings were rather short and rounded very much as in the com- 

 mon fowl, but unlike all known birds there were three long, slender fingers on 

 each wing, each of which was armed with a hooked, sharp-edged claw. There 

 were also relatively large flight feathers, the apparent number being seventeen 

 in each wing, six or seven of which were primaries and the rest secondaries, and, 

 it may be added, no other bird has so few primaries. In addition to the quills 

 there was at least one row of wing-coverts. 



The sternum, or breast-bone, is obscurely preserved and is more or less in 

 doubt, some observers claiming that it is not only present but possesses a well- 

 defined keel, while others declare that, although much has been written about 

 it, nothing is absolutely known. A definite knowledge of this bone would be of 

 great assistance in interpreting the probable habits of its owner. The three 

 bones of the pelvis, as in most reptiles, are perfectly distinct from one another, 

 and a further decidedly reptilian character is found in the absence of the hook- 

 like processes of the ribs. 



The covering of the body, aside from the wing and tail feathers, has been 

 the subject of much speculation. From the fact that the feathers of tail and 

 wings are preserved with such remarkable fidelity, it is argued that, had there 

 been a general feather covering, some definite trace of it would remain. As it 

 is, the only positive contour feathering seems to be confined to the leg, producing 

 apparently a "booted" condition similar to that observed in the Falcons. There 

 is also some slight evidence of the presence of a "ruff" about the base of the neck, 

 as in the Condor, while the remainder of the body was apparently naked, or pos- 

 sibly covered with down or small feathers which disappeared during the decay 

 which preceded the entombment. The contention advanced by certain writers 

 that the body, aside from the feathering mentioned above, was covered with scales 

 is not only absolutely unsupported by fact, but is in the highest degree improbable. 

 The length of time that must have intervened in evolving the very perfect wing 

 and tail feathers of Archtzopteryx from reptilian scales, if that is whence they 

 came, would undoubtedly have been ample for the production of some sort of a 

 feather covering for the remainder of the body. 



Probable Habits. With the above facts before us we are perhaps in posi- 

 tion to indulge in some fairly reasonable speculation as to the habits of this 

 ancient bird. From the presence of a distinctly perching foot it may be inferred 

 that a considerable portion of its life was spent in trees, which are known to have 

 been abundantly present at that time, and further, that the curious hooked 

 fingers were of assistance in climbing about among the branches, as are those of 



