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. 



SOONER 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 birdg bears undubitable 

 testimony of this. For we have the evidence furnished us 



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