322 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
These remains consist of the greater part of the skeleton, but the thighbones, 
the beak, and the anterior part of the head are wanting. The slab contain- 
ing the specimen also shows remarkably distinct impressions of the feathers 
of the wings and tail. In size and general proportions the bird resembles 
the Scarlet Tanager (Pyranga rubra), and the Cedar Bird ( Ampelis cedro- 
rum ) ; in the development of the wings it also agrees with those birds., but 
the legs and feet are smaller and weaker. The total length of the bird was 
about seven inches. Dr. Allen regards its organization as indicating arboreal 
habits and considerable power of flight. The absence of the bill renders it 
impossible to decide as to the particular family to which this bird should be 
allied, but the balance of the evidence from these remains is in favour of its 
being a finch. Dr. Allen proposes to found a new genus for the bird, which 
he names Palaospiza bdla. Other remains of birds have been found in the 
Florissant beds. — (< Sillimaris Journal, May 1878.) 
American Permian Reptiles. — Professor Marsh notices some reptiles from 
a peculiar lacustrine formation in the Western Territories, but especially from 
New Mexico, the geological position of which appears to him the upper part 
of the Permian. Among them are several genera showing the more important 
characters of the Rhynchocephala, of which the New Zealand Hatteria is 
the sole living type. One remarkable characteristic of all the reptiles here 
noticed is the presence of intercentral ossifications below the biconcave 
bodies of the vertebrae ; and another the existence of three facets for the 
articulation of the ribs in the anterior rib-bearing vertebrae. In the 
implantation of the teeth and their successional development, these reptiles 
resembled the Mosasaurs. They represent two families, which Professor 
Marsh calls Nothodontidae and Sphenacodontidae. The former includes a 
single species, Nothodon lentus, which was probably five or six feet long, slow 
in its movements, partially aquatic and herbivorous. Three species of the 
second family are described, namely: — Sphenacodon ferox, a carnivorous 
reptile about six feet long, with the posterior teeth compressed, with very 
sharp smooth edges ; Ophiacodon mirus, also a carnivorous form, about the 
same size as the preceding, with conical teeth, of which the anterior are 
recurved as in serpents ; and O. grandis, a larger species, about ten feet in 
length. — (Sillimari’s Journal, May 1878.) 
The First American Jurassic Mammal. — Professor Marsh says, “One of 
the most interesting discoveries made in the Rocky Mountain region is the 
right lower jaw of a small mammal recently received at the Yale College 
Museum. The specimen was found in the Atlantosaurus- beds of the Upper 
Jurassic, and the associated fossils are mainly Dinosaurs. 
Fryolestes priscus, gen. et sp. nov. 
“ This specimen is in fair preservation, although most of the teeth have 
been broken off in removing it from the rock. The penultimate molar, how- 
ever, remains. The shape of the jaw, and the position and character of the 
teeth, show that the animal was a small marsupial, allied to the existing 
Opossums ( Didelphidat ). The tooth preserved has the same general form as 
the corresponding molar of Chironectes variegatus Illiger. The angle of the 
jaw is imperfect, but there are indications that it was inflected. 
“ The principal dimensions of this specimen are as follows : — 
