418 



ZOOLOGY 



Extinct Birds. — The destruction of species of birds goes on 

 fast enough without the more efficient aid of man. We know 

 of species which have become extinct within recent times 

 through the introduction of new enemies among them. Such 



Fig. .3SS. — Hc.sj/, ror/u 



The rt'-sturcd skeleton. After Marsh. 



was the fate of the dodo and of the great auk of Labrador. 

 The remains of species which lived in very remote periods 

 have lieen preserved to us in the rocks. Tlie oldest known 

 fossil bird, Archsopteryx, of the Jurassic age, has a long tail 

 like a lizard ; but feathers, which are only modified scales, 



