672 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXXVIII. 



The barbules appear relatively shorter, coarser, and less closely 

 spaced than those in the body-feathers of recent Carinates, and 

 the apex of the vexillum is more pointed. The shaft not being 

 prolonged at the base, it is probable that the specimen is com- 

 plete in itself, and not the tip of a larger feather. No inferences 

 are warranted regarding even the remote affinities of the form it 

 belonged to, beyond that chances favor its having been a shore 

 bird of small or moderate size. Although the beds were un- 

 doubtedly laid down under deep-water conditions, the presence 

 in them of crocodilians, chelonians, and plant remains indicates 

 that the Bolca locality was not far removed from land at the 

 time these strata were deposited. It deserves to be stated 

 that, according to Walther, the Solnhofen lithographic stone 

 in which Archaeopteryx occurs was deposited within a coral 

 island lagoon. 



