8 Wonders of the Bird World 



Bird Gallery at the Natural History Museum, that the 

 Archctopteryx possessed a totally different kind of tail from 

 that of any existing bird. Instead of having a fan-shaped 

 tail like that of our ordinary birds at the present day, it 

 had a long lizard-like tail, consisting of some twenty 

 vertebra;, to which were attached in pairs the rectrices, or 

 tail-feathers. It was apparently of the size of our Common 

 Rook {Trypanocorax frngilegus). Another peculiarity of 

 the ArchcEopteryx lies in the fact that the three fingers of the 

 wing corresponding to the three fingers of existing birds, 

 were all furnished with a large claw, just as are the fingers 

 of reptiles. In those few birds of the present day which 

 have claws on the wing, never more than two are found, 

 that on the third finger being absent. In at least one 

 instance, that of the Hoatzin, these claws have a functional 

 value, being used by the nestling for climbing purposes. 



Among the many fossil forms discovered in the Cretaceous 

 beds, two from North America particularly deserve notice, 

 viz, the genera Hesperoriiis and Ichthyoniis of Professor Marsh. 

 Both of these had actual teeth, and the first opinion of the 

 describer was that they formed a separate and distinct Order 

 of Birds, which he called OdontormtJies, but recent research 

 tends to prove that Hesperomis was a kind of flightless 

 Diver, and Ichthyoniis was probably allied to the Cormorants 

 of our day. More wonderful birds of the Eocene period 

 have also been discovered in Patagonia. These are called 

 Stereornithes, and of one of them Mr. Pycraft has attempted 

 a restoration, viz. of the genus Plwrorachus, based upon 

 the remains discovered by Professor Ameghino, and now 

 in the Natural History Museum. It was in all probability 

 a giant form of Seriama, a bird peculiar to South America, 

 and one which has been variously placed by ornithologists 

 among the Hawks, or near the Bustards and Cranes. In 

 general aspect a Seriama is not unlike the Secretary Bird 

 {Serpentarius secretarius) of Africa, and in many of their 



