Hesperornis 



57 



feathers. Without going into a complete description of the shoulder girdle it 

 may be said that its elements, as interpreted in the light of recent material, 

 make it very similar to the arrangement found in recent birds and not nearly 

 so similar to the reptiles as was formerly supposed, and further, the struthious 

 characters are also decidedly less apparent than was believed. The body or 

 pelvis was greatly compressed, while the legs and feet present some anomalous 

 features. The femur was short and stout, the tibia very long and slender 



FlG. 20. Hesperornis regalis. Skeleton in U. S. National Museum from which the restoration 

 (Fig. 21) was made. Sternum and two anterior cervicals supplied by restoration. (Lucas.) 



although somewhat pneumatic, the fibula slender, about three fourths the length 

 of the tibia, and united to it by a cartilage only, while the metatarsus was rela- 

 tively short and stout. The feet were four-toed, the outer toe being much the 

 largest, and nearly twice the length of the third toe. Mr. F. A. Lucas was the 

 first to call attention to the fact that the legs of Hesperornis were directed out- 

 ward almost at right angles to the body, instead of downwards as in other birds, 

 and that apparently they were naturally moved together like a pair of oars. 

 There is also evidence to show that the toes were webbed as in the Grebes. This 

 peculiar arrangement of the legs, combined with the almost total absence of 

 wings, must have made this bird practically helpless on land, to which it doubt- 

 less resorted as rarely as possible, and then only for nesting purposes. 



