FOSSIL BIRDS. 



253 



Tortoises, and fresh-water and marine Turtles ; many entire 

 specimens of the carapace and plastron, have been obtained 

 from Sheppey, and Harwich. Some beautiful examples 

 have also been met with in the Isle of Wight.* The 

 lower jaw of an Alligator (A. Hantoniensis) with the teeth, 

 was found in Hordwell ClitT;| and in the clay near Lym- 

 ington I discovered many bones of a crocodile ( Crocodilus 



Spencer i) :$ Lady Hastings 

 has obtained a perfect skull, 

 and other parts of the skeleton 

 of a Crocodile, from the same 

 locality. 



In the eocene strata of 

 India, Dr. Falconer found, 

 with the colossal tortoise (p. 

 164), bones of other tortoises, 

 and gavials, that could not 

 be distinguished from those 

 of species now inhabiting In- 

 dia, The lacustrine deposit 

 of CEningen (p. 263), has 

 yielded specimens of a large 

 extinct species of Salaman- 

 der. 



38. Fossil birds. — In 

 the gypseous building-stone 

 of Montmartre, M. Cuvier 

 found many bones possessing characters peculiar to those 

 of birds ; and after much research he was enabled to 

 determine several fossil species, related to the pelican, 

 sea-lark, curlew, woodcock, buzzard, owl, and quail. 

 In some examples there are indications of the feathers, 



* Geology of the Isle of Wight, p. 112. 



f London Journal of Geology and Palaeontology, plate 2. 



X Geology of the Isle of Wight, p. 163. 



Lign. 44. — Fossil bird, from 

 Montmartre. 



