The American Toothed-birds 



Some years ago Professor Williston discovered a fragmentary specimen 

 which he thinks represents the plumage of Hesperornis, and if this is correct, 

 it was covered with long, fluffy, hair-like feathers, which has been taken as another 

 indication of its relationship with the Ostrich-like birds. This sort of plumage 

 is seemingly but a poor adaptation for aquatic life, yet it is not wholly without 

 parallel among recent birds, such for example as the Snake-birds (Anhinga), 

 which are covered with a very loose and easily water-soaked feathering. 



The life habits as interpreted by the structure, indicate that Hesperornis 

 was carnivorous, feeding doubtless upon the fishes and other aquatic life that 





FIG. 21. Restoration of the great toothed diver of the Cretaceous, Hesperornis, by Gleeson. 

 (From Lucas's "Animals of the Past," by permission of the publishers, McClure, Phillips & Co.) 



is known to have been abundantly present in the Cretaceous seas. Its narrow 

 body and powerful legs and webbed toes point to its having been an expert 

 swimmer and diver, enabling it to overtake its finny prey, in which it was 

 assisted also by its long flexuous neck and numerous sharp, backward-pointing 

 teeth. 



As might be supposed the relationship of this remarkable bird has been the 

 subject of much discussion and not a little difference of opinion, and so long as 

 certain important parts of the skeleton remain unknown, its exact position must 

 remain open to more or less question. It was at first regarded as a carnivorous, 

 swimming Ostrich, but as already suggested, the structure does not at all bear 

 out the claim of its struthious affinity, and moreover, as there is no authentic 

 trace of the presence of the Ostrich in North America, this may be dismissed 

 at once (cf. p. 63). By many it is regarded as being closely allied to, if not indeed 

 the direct ancestor of, the Loons and Grebes, but as Mr. Lucas has very clearly 

 shown, those portions of the skeleton which are thought to indicate kinship with 

 the Loons and Grebes are only similarities of structure which have resulted from 



