Dr. H. Woodward — On Wingless Birds. 313 



Lastly, in the Eocene of England (Loudon Clay of Sbeppey) we 

 have Owen's Dasornis londiniensis. 



The following summary of the class Aves gives the leading 

 chai'acters by which the four great Orders are distinguished. 



Order I. Saurur^ (Lizard-tailed Birds). 



a. The metacarpals not anchylosed together, the tail longer than the body, 

 jaws fui-nished with teeth. Three free digits in the manus, all with 

 claws ; vertebrae biconcave. 

 Archjeopterygid^. Ex. Archmopteryx^ Owen. 



Order II. Odontornithes (Toothed Birds). 



Sub-order 1. Udontolcce. No wings ; teeth in grooves ; sternum flat. Ex. 



Hesperornis, Marsh. 

 Sub-order 2. Odontotorm.^. Possessing powerful wings ; sternum keeled ; 



teeth in distinct sockets ; vertebrae biconcave. Ex. Ichthyornis, Marsh. 



Order III. Eatit^ (Baft-breasted Birds). 

 A. Sternum devoid of a keel. 

 a. The wing with a rudimentary or a very short humerus, and with not more 



than one ungual phalange. 

 h. The hallux present. 



1. Apterygid^. Ex. Apteryx, 4 species; Erythromachus (1 sp.). 



a. Wings absent or rudimentary. 



b. No hallux present. ^ 



2. DiNORNiTHiD^. Ex. Dinomis, 7 sp. ; Mionornis, 2 sp. 



a. The hallux present. 



3. PALAPTERYGiD^a;. Ex. Palapteryx, 2 sp. ; Eiiryapteryx, 2 sp. 



(Eocene, England) JUasoonis, 1 sp. ; (Madagascar) Aipyornis, 3 sp. 



a. Skull surmounted by a bony crest or helmet. 

 h. No hallux. 



c. Neck bare. Casuarius. 



4. Casiuariid^. "Cassowary," 9 sp. 



a. Neck feathered. 



5. Drom^id^. Dromceus, the Emeu, 2 sp. 



a. The wing with a long humerus and with two ungual phalanges. 



b. The ischia uniting immediately beneath the sacrum ; the pubes free. 



6. Eh^id^. Hhcsa, "American Ostrich," 3 species. 



a. The ischia free and the pubes uniting in a ventral symphysis. 



7. Struthionid^. IStruthio, 1 sp. ? African Ostrich. 



Diatryina gigantea (Cope). J^'ossil Eocene, New Mexico. 



Order IV. CARiNATiE. '&irds'h.a.\mgt\xe\v sternum provided with a keel: comprising 

 some 105 families and about 8700 species, embracing all modern birds, 

 save the Ratitce, and some fossil species. Of these about 5000 do not 

 exceed the size of a sparrow. 



The subjoined list will serve as a rough summary of the appear- 

 ance in time of the Class Aves. 



Appearance in Time of Birds. 



Triassic formation. Bird-like Bipedal tracks or Foot-prints. 



Jurassic formation (Solenhofeii Limestone), Archceopteryx macrura, Owen. 



Cretaceous formation (Wealden), '■'■ Palceomis CUftii,''^ Mantell. 



(Lr. Greensand, Cambridge), Felagorms Barrettii. 

 M. Cretaceous (N. America), Apaiumis celer. Marsh. 



,, Western Kansas, Baptornis advenus ,, 



,, ,, Hesperornis regalis „ 



^ This character fails us here, for Dinomis seems to have possessed a hind-toe. 



