CHAPTER II 
The First Bird 
“And let Fowl fly above the earth ; with wings 
Displayed in the open firmament of heaven.” 
MILTON. 
The ancestors of birds—The first known bird and its many remarkable 
features—The gradual evolution of the birds of to-day. 
OONER or later all bird-lovers find themselves pondering 
over the problem of the origin of birds: how they 
evolved their peculiar covering of feathers: what was the 
fashion of the original arm and hand out of which the wing 
was fashioned: and finally, whence have the birds been 
derived ? 
Since these pages are avowedly devoted to the subject of 
Flight, any attempt to summarize the state of our knowledge 
on these aspects of the history of birds would be in the nature 
of a trespass on the space, of necessity limited, which even a 
cursory survey of flight demands. 
Let it suffice, then, to say that birds are descended from 
reptiles. The skeleton of modern birds bears undubitable 
testimony of this. For we have the evidence furnished us 
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