452 MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. 



affinities which it exhibits to the true Birds. The head of 

 Compsognathus was furnished with toothed jaws, and supported 

 upon a long and slender neck. The fore-limbs were very 

 short, but the hind-limbs were long and Uke those of Birds. 

 The /w.a;2iwa/ portion of the tarsus resembled that of Birds in 

 being anchylosed to the lower end of the tibia; but the distal 

 portion of the tarsus— unlike that of Birds — was free, and was 

 not anchylosed with the metatarsus. Huxley concludes that 

 " it is impossible to look at the conformation of this strange 

 Reptile, and to doubt that it hopped or walked in an erect or 

 semi-erect position, after the manner of a bird, to which its 

 long neck, slight head, and small anterior limbs must have 

 given it an extraordinary resemblance." 



