BIRDS OF OLD 63 



It is true that where carnivorous animals abound, 

 dead birds do disappear quickly; and my friend Dr. 

 Stejneger tells me that, while hundreds of dead sea- 

 fowl are cast on the shores of the Commander Islands, 

 it is a rare thing to find one after daylight as the bodies 

 are devoured by the Arctic foxes that prowl about the 

 shores at night. But, again, as in the Miocene of South- 

 em France and in the Pliocene of Oregon, remains of 

 birds are fairly numerous, showing that, under proper 

 conditions, their bones are preserved for future refer- 

 ence, so that we may hope some day to come upon speci- 

 mens that will enable us to round out the history of bird 

 life in the past. 



We are as much as ever in the dark as to how birds 

 began, but quite recently (1915) Mr. Beebe has brought 

 forward some evidence as to how flight began. There 

 are two principal theories as to how this originated, 

 one that it was brought about by jumping up, the other 

 that it was brought about by jumping down. According 

 to one view, the about-to-be birds ran along the ground, 

 or jumped into the air waving their fore limbs vigorously, 

 until the time came when the wings were sufficiently 

 developed to raise their owner into the air. Those who 

 hold the other view consider that flight began by 

 animals leaping from trees and instinctively spreading 

 their limbs to catch at anything convenient to break 

 their fall. 



Advocates of the first theory cannot bring forward a 

 single creature that to-day habitually runs along the 

 ground before taking flight; the best they can do is to 

 adduce the flying fish which is not to the point at all, 

 especially since a large number of observers say that the 

 flying fish does not fly, although in this we believe them 

 mistaken. 



