80 MIGHTY ANIMALS 



and narrow heads ending in beaks a foot and a 

 half in length. These Pterodactyls were toothless, 

 but others with short heads and beaks had very 

 sharp teeth, which they put to cruel use when fight- 

 ing as well as when catching the small animals on 

 which they fed. However, not all of the Pterodac- 

 tyls were large. They varied greatly in size, some 

 being no bigger than crows. But they, every one, 

 had four legs, each ending in four fingers, and be- 

 cause the outside finger of each front leg was fas- 

 tened to the wing and grew its entire length, these 

 creatures were named Wing-Fingered — only, instead 

 of using the English words, men have taken two 

 Greek 7 words, "pteron" (wing) and "dactylos" 

 (finger), and made the name Pterodactyl. 



The eyes of these flying reptiles were so large it 

 is thought they -may have gone about mostly at 

 night, as do the bats and owls of to-day. But 

 whether the long-necked, long-headed Pterodactyl 

 went about by night or by day, it was easy for 

 him to see in all directions without turning his 

 body. If he suspected that he was being followed 

 by an enemy, he could look behind him without 



