The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1878-01-25
FOSSIL BIRDS.
SINGULAR sPsorMsNs or DEPUHCr LrFB
-RIRDs TWELVE pEEr HIGu-oTH-
ER PHENOMEHA-A DEAD ACE
SINGULAR

lame, is now engaged in securing som,
of the celebrated fossil bird tracks q
the Connecticut valley from spo
which has never been worked for thai
purpose, namely, the shore of Weth
ersteld Cove, about three miles below
Hartford. The spot selected is at th.
southeastern part of the cove, in the
shaiy and cruinbly freestone formation
that underlies tue soil, at the depth OF
from six inches to several feet, accord
ing to tue distance from the water Il
Is the same kind of stone that is Oh
tanned from the Portland quarries,
twelve miles down the river, and ia
nous as The Portland and Connecticut
freestone, out of which manv fashiona-
ble brown stone fronts' are made !;
only, this formation on the eastern
bank of Wetherstield Cove, being SO
near the surface and indeed often
actually exposed above the soil, is far
from friable. We condense from the
Hartford Times these details Of Pro-
fessor Hitchcock's discoveries:
Wethersield Cove, as many readers
in other States NAV not know, is q
large and beautiful sheet d water
formed by the Connecticut river, with
which it is connected by narrow inlet,
and from which it is distant from ten
to forty rods. The stones at which
the famous geologist is at work are
inbedded in the bank of the cove be-
tween that water and the river. The
bank rises gently to the southeast,
perhaps fifteen feet above the present
stage Of water in the cove. The exca-
vations thus far made are only about
two rods from tue water which indeed
at the beginning of the work was at
the actual point of com mmencement, but
has receded since
Here he has unearthed great MANY
tracks that were broken in the attempt
to remove the crumnly stone, and
opened to view one stratum of soft red
freestone which discloses a line of four
fossil bird tIacks of giant size, and
made, evidently, bv one and the same
individual, walking in souther!y di-
rection. Other tracks, of birds and
animals, cross them in various drcc-
tions
We say bird tracks, for the argument
in favor of fossil giant frog or lizard
seems not to he so well supported in this
case as the theory that the tracks first
mentioned are those of some enormous
fossil bird. The Joint. MIN Der. spread
and swelling of the toes are unmistak-
ably of the ostrich famii e. but far larger
than those Of any. lir.rg ostrich -
Though not SO large rs some of the
fossil tracks oI the Connecticut valley.
these footprints, Professor Hitchcock
Gays, must have been made by a bird
that was twelve feet hioh-nearlv
twice as large as an ostrich They
measure about foot in lenrth. from
heel to toe nail, and have a correspond
ing spread and emphasis. Some are
still larger
In the soft silt and ooze of what was
then a muddy shore of the pri,nevat
sea these great birds, walking on a
surface that became rapidly sun baked
between every returning tide, made a
deep, sharply defined and clear cut
impression at every step, and these
tracks were filled up with silt and
clayey mud oy the mex: tide to vary
ing depths. These depths are now
marked hy the thin but distinct strata
of the freestone into which this mu6
was in due time converted It is really
astonishing To see what minute crea-
lures, even little bugs. not bigger ap-
parently than small horsedies, have
here left the enduring and u1deniable
evidence OF their hasty running on the
soft and smooth surface of the ancient
ses-beach. in lines of little tracks that
are as clearly marked (though of
course not SO deep as the tracks of
their giant feathered cotemporaries.
1t was indeed n scene of teeminy life
on these ancient shores life of won
drous variety in its forms, as in the
sizes of the creatures in which it was
manifested. Here are great bril-
tracks, crossed bv the smaller and
sharp clawed prints OF some saurian
creature, probably some extinct lizard.
This fellow must have had not only
long sharp claws butiong heels Other
forms indicate a variety of creatures,
some large. some minute. One mark
ing looked like the close fitting Joints
OF snake. The big bird tracks are
and half feet, indicating a leisurely
walk by the feathered biped who made
them; probably he was hunting for
some of the myriad of small creatures
which aboundei on the ancient shore.
Professor Hitchcock, who has Sc
cured specimens at Portland. at South
Haley, Mass, at Turner's Falls.
Mass, and other places iiS the valley.
has In his possession-or has seen a
track measuring fourteen by twenty.
two inches-a web footed creature.
probably of the lizard tribe. whose
stride was three feet seven inches. At
Batterson's granite and marhle works.
on Main and Pleasant streets. there
are freestone slabs from the Portland
quarries containing very clearly defined
tracks, which measure twenty inches
Grover. Professor lIitchcocx ascrihes
then. to a mammoth fossil frog or liz
ard, called the Otozoum. This fellow
was evidently one of a very hume rorts
brof l1 rIonH in THE ra;,.bI,o-l..y