THE TURKEY PREHISTORIC 35 



Both of these fossils I have very critically com- 

 pared with the corresponding parts of the bones 

 represented in each case in the skeleton of an 

 adult wild turkey (Meleagris g. silvestris) in the 

 collection of mounted bird skeletons in the U. S. 

 National Museum. 



Taking everything at my command into con- 

 sideration as set forth above, as well as the extent 

 of Professor Marsh's knowledge of the osteology 

 of existing birds — not heretofore referred to — 

 I am of the opinion, that in the case of his Melea- 

 gris antiqua, the material upon which it is based 

 is altogether too fragmentary to pronounce, 

 with anything like certainty, that it ever be- 

 longed to a turkey at all. In the first place, it 

 is a very imperfect fragment (Plate 1, Figs. 1 

 and 2) ; in the second, it does not typically pre- 

 sent the "characteristic portions" of that end 

 of the humerus in a turkey, as Professor Marsh 

 states it does. Thirdly, the distal end of the 

 humerus is by no means a safe fragment of the 

 skeleton of hardly any bird to judge from. 



specimen is pure white, which is characteristic of the fossils found in 

 the White River region of Colorado. This is confirmed by Professor 

 Marsh in his article quoted above. 



