6 



Bulletin of the Michigan Ornithological Club. 



cutting edges were sharp, and without ser- 

 rations. The humerus was well developed, 

 in order to support the powerful wings. 

 Some peculiar features were brought out in 

 the examination of the birds of this species. 

 The bi-concave vertebrae indicated an an- 

 cestry even lower than the reptiles, while 

 the teeth were hi^hlv specialized. Thus 

 indicating that an animal may be highly 

 developed in one character and yet retain 

 the low features of a distant ancestor. 



Prof. Marsh has described the foregoing 

 birds under nine genera and twenty species. 

 About one hundred and fifty individuals 

 were found and are now deposited in the 

 museum of Yale College. There was a 

 rich and varied avi-fauna in Mesozoic time 

 and there is probability of rich discoveries in 

 the future. It is very fortunate for science 

 that Hesperornis regalis should be rep- 

 resented by specimens as complete as any 

 fossil yet found. Nearly all the bones 

 were found almost as perfect as in life and 

 most of them were in the natural positions. 

 The birds of the second class, Icthyornis, 

 were evidently aquatic, and in their power- 

 ful wings and small legs and feet were 

 much like our terns. 



As far back as 1835 tracks were found in 

 the rocks in the Connecticut valley sup- 

 posed to have been made by birds, but 

 closer examination now leads to the belief 

 that they were made by reptiles. It is true 

 that earlier birds than those mentioned have 

 been found in the Jurassic beds of Wyom- 

 ing, nearly in the same horizon as the 

 Bavarian find. It was a single genus, the 

 Laopteryx represented by only a single 

 specimen. Several birds have also been 

 found in the Cretaceous beds on the 

 Atlantic coast, but all these specimens were 

 so fragmentary that they could not be 

 easily described. Even in the first authen- 

 tic Archceopteryx the head and sternum 

 were missing. In the later formations 

 birds are more abundant, but are more like 

 the modern types. It is now generally ad- 

 mitted that birds are closely related to the 

 reptiles, and there can be but little doubt 

 that they descended from reptilian ances- 

 tors. 



In the next geological period, the 

 Tertiary, a division of the Cenozoio era, 

 the reptilian birds have disappeared and 



birds like those of the present are found. 

 With them, however, some strange forms 

 are seen. The Gastornis of the Eocene 

 strata of Paris, was a bird ten feet high, 

 and a link between the Waders and the 

 Ostriches. I'.i France especially, the birds 

 indicated a tropical climate. Parrots, 

 Ibises, Flamingos, and such birds were 

 found at this time. In a later period, the 

 Quarternary, immediatel}'' preceding the 

 human era, gigantic, wingless birds have 

 been found in New Zealand and Madagas- 

 car. One of them, the Dinoris gigan- 

 teus, was twelve feet high, and with 

 femurs three feet long. An egg of the 

 Epiornis has been found, six times as 

 large as the ^^g of the Ostrich. The ex- 

 tinction of these birds is so recent that feet 

 have been found with the dried skin yet 

 upon them, and eggs yet containing the 

 skeletons of chickens. It is hardly worth 

 while to give a detailed list of the fossil 

 birds at present known. In all, forty-six 

 species have been described. The full list 

 may be found in Coues' Code and Check- 

 list. 



C. A. Whittemore. 

 Grand Rapids. 



We are pleased to note the reply of Mr. E. Arnold 

 of Battle Creek, Mich., to the rather insnltiug criti- 

 cism of his article in a former issue of the Osprey. 

 The criticisms should always be gentlemanly and 

 kind as is Mr. Arnold's reply. No true ornithologist, 

 or naturalist in any department of study, will up- 

 hold the innuendo that a man is dishonest or preten- 

 tious simply because he reports something which his 

 critic does not himself happen to know or which he 

 perhaps honestly doubts. We want all of the orig- 

 inal work done possible, and should appreciate the 

 kindness of those who give us the result of their ob- 

 servations. When Ave are sure that a man is know- 

 ingly wrong and trying to deceive, then, and only 

 then, should we assail him personally or ridicule what 

 he puts forth for fact. All editors should jealously 

 guard their pages from any such inscientific rude- 

 ness. 



In the Osprey for December, Foster & Co. of 

 Ann Arbor, Mich., dealers in taxidermist's supplies, 

 etc., are exposed as a fraudulent firm. We will say 

 that the above firm is a thing of the past, and the 

 people will no more be imposed upon by them. 

 Foster, the fraudulent member, has left for parts un- 

 known and cannot be located. 



L. W. W. 



