THE OSPREY. 19 



attitude for the bird's legs that, althoiiirh apparently indicated by the shape of 

 the bones, it was at first thought to bo duo to the crushing and consetjuent 

 distortion to which the bones had been subjected, and an endeavor was made 

 to place the legs in the ordinary position, even though this was done at the ex- 

 pense of some little dislocation of the joints. But when the mounting of the 

 skeleton had advanced further it became more evident that Hesperornis was 

 not an ordinary bird, and that he could not have swum in the usual manner, 

 since this would have brought his great knee caps up into his body, which 

 would have been uncomfortable. And so, at the cost of some little time and 

 trouble, the mountings were so changed that the legs stood out at the sides of 

 the body, as shown in the picture". 



The last figure of the "Arcliroopterj'x as restored by Mr. Pycraft" of the 

 British Museum, is also reproduced by Mr. Lucas and we borrow and present 

 it here. 



This picture is here reproduced through the courtesy of the publishers. 



The eighth chapter is replete with information about "Feathered Giants" 

 (p. 139-158). The giants were the Moas of New Zeland, the Aepyornithids 

 of Madagascar, and the recently discovered Phororhacids and Brontornithids 

 of Patagonia. These were all of much later age than the toothed birds, and 

 also much less unlike recent birds than are they. But for further information, 

 we must refer to Mr. Lucas's book. In a vignette at the end of the chapter, 

 the Moa and the Phororhacos are represented by the side of the largest living 

 bird — the Ostrich — and the contrast is suggestive. 



An artistic restoration (which the publishers have allowed us to give here) 

 of the gigantic Phororhacos of Patagonia, a bird distinctly related to the 

 modern Screamer (Cariama) serves as a frontispiece to this volume. 



