THE TURKEY PREHISTORIC 31 



It will be noted, then, that Meleagris antiqua 

 of Marsh is practically represented by the imper- 

 fect distal extremity of a right humerus; and that 

 Meleagris celer of the same paleontologist from 

 the Pleistocene of New Jersey is said to be repre- 

 sented by the bones enumerated in a foregoing 

 footnote. In this connection let it be borne in 

 mind that, while I found fossil specimens of 

 Meleagris g, silvestris in the bone caves of Ten- 

 nessee, I found no remains of fossil turkeys in 

 Oregon, from whence some classifiers of fossil 



Measurements. 



Greatest diameter of humerus at distal end . . 12. lines 



Transverse diameter of ulnar condyle .... 3.4 



Vertical diameter of same 4 . 



Transverse diameter of radial condyle .... 4.25 

 The specimens on which this species is based were discovered by Mr. 

 G. B. Grinnell of the Yale party, in the Miocene clay deposits of north- 

 ern Colorado." 



Ibid. IV, 1872, 261. [Title on p. 256.] "Art XXX. Notice of some 

 new Tertiary and Post-Tertiary Birds." From this article by Pro- 

 fessor Marsh I extract the following: 



Meleagris celer, sp. no v. 



A much smaller species of the same genus is represented by two tibiae 

 and the proximal half of a tarso-metatarsal, which were found together, 

 and probably belonged to the same individual. The tibia is slender, and 

 has the shaft less flattened from before backward than in the last species 

 [M. altus]. The distal half of the shaft has its anterior face more dis- 

 tinctly polygonal. From the head of the tibia a sharp ridge descends a 

 short distance on the posterior face, where it is met by an external ridge 

 of similar length. The tarso-metatarsal has the external ridge of the 

 proximal end more prominent, and the posterior tendinal crest more os- 

 sified than in the larger species. The remains preserved indicate a bird 

 about half the bulk of M. altus. 



