FOSSIL PLUMAGE. 



being in counterpart. These two specimens, which are now pre- 

 served in the Paris Museum of Natural History, were described 

 and figured in the early part of the last century by Faujas-St.- 

 I^^ind,' but not without misgivings lest his readers be inclined to 

 doubt their avian nature. The names are given of four profes- 

 sors at the Museum w^ho agree with the author in his conclu.sions, 

 and it is observed that with reference to one of the feathers, that 

 " on ne sauroit la confondre avec certains fucns qui ont quelques 

 rapports apparens avec des plumes, parce que celle-ci a ses 

 barbes garnies d'autres petites barbes." This is the only state- 

 ment which is given in regard to the finer structure, and the 

 latter is not illustrated in the figures. Both of these feathers, 

 it may be added, are of the pennaceous, and not of the plumu- 

 laceous variety. 



Except for a casual mention by Milne P^dwards^ of his having 

 seen one or two fossil feathers 

 in Verona, where they are still 

 on exhibition in the Public 

 Museum, no other references 

 occur in literature to this sort 

 of remains from Monte Bolca. 

 It may therefore be of interest 

 to examine the figure which 

 is given herewith of a speci- 

 men recently acquired by the 

 Museum of Comparative Zool- 

 ogy at Cambridge, along with 

 a fine suite of fish-remains 

 from a famous old Veronese 

 collection. This is a small 

 contour feather, only 1.5 cm. 

 long, but remarkable for its ^ moL^bS iSj." xT ^^^^^^ 

 perfect preservation of details. 



It is possible to distinguish each separate barb of the symmetri- 

 cal vane, and even the barbules along either side of the branches. 



^Faujas-Saint-Fond, B. Mgmoire sur quelques fossiles rares de Vestena Nova 

 ^ Milne Edwards, A. Oiscaux Fossiles de la Flange, vol. II., p. 544- '87 



