The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1884-10-04
GIANT BIRDS OF OH
Huge Ancestors Of the Ostrich-A Goo0o
Twelve Feet High.

Huge Ancestors OF the OstFlchA Go0oo
Twelve Feet High.
There's an interesting slab, said geol
ogist to a reporter, holding up an ancien
and weather worn slab. sIts o fac
smile Of a cast in the British museum
| that bears the remains of the Oldest biri
known. It had q regular lizard tail
This specimen was found in the BavariaI
quar1ies at Solenhofen, where SO mucf
valuable photographic slate is found.
"The arch@opteryx, Judging from thi
specimen, vas about the size of a crow
and the first thing that attracted thu
finders attention was the remarkable
tail. If you a imagine the pope's NOSE
Of the bird or a turkey stretched out sc
that it is longer than the bird itself, and
made up of twenty movable bones O.
vertebre, each supporting a pair o.
feathers, one upon each side, a fair con-
ception Of this strange tail may be had.
A further examination showed that the
fore limb had two toes or fingers free Of
the limb, each arm with apowerful claw,
while a third was greatly elongated and
supported the feathered wing.
"The head of the arch@opteryx was
not found, but from later discoveries Of
other early birds it is presumed that is
reptile like appearance wa increased by
having veritable teeth in its jaws.
In our country the rocks of a latertime
have preserved birds for us that are per
haps equally as wonderful as the long
tailed specimen from Solenhofen. For q
long time their footprints had been
known, and finally some specimens were
discovered in Kansas, that attracted uni
versal attention, from the fact that they
possessed veritable teeth. These curious
creatures were taken from the chalk beds,
and named by Professor Marsh, the dis
coverer, odontornithes. Twenty speci-
mems were found, showing that the pos
session of teeth was probably general
among birds at that time. The largest
bird taken from the chalk was named the
hesperorious. It was a great water bird,
at least six feet in length. Its jaws were
lined with sharp teeth, set in grooves.
The wings were like those Of the ostrich,
incapable of lifting it from the ground,
while its feet were webbed like those Of
a duck. In fact, if we can imagine such
q strange conglomeration, the hesperorius
was a c%arnivorous or flesh eating, SWIM
ming, ostrich like bird.
"The flying birds of that age, not
larger than our common pigeons, also
had teeth. Such was the jettryordes.
Its teeth were in sockets, just like those
of the alligator Of to-day, and it had a
backbone like that Of a fish. Another
was a pigeon with teeth, and others
somewhat resembled swans and rails; all
however, being provided with sharp
teeth of various kinds, showing that they
were hunters, and far different in their
habits from their descendant of to-day.
Equally strange are some of the birds
that have become extinct in later times,
and have been preserved in the earth.
Within q few months some excavations
in the plastic clay of Bas Meudon,
France, have resulted in the discovery
of the remains of a gooselike bird, which,
when the bones were arranged, lowered
aloft to height twice that of the tallest
man. Such enormou birds must have
presented a strange spectacle moving
about in focks, and from them probably
came the legend of the rock Of the Ara
bian Nights. The bones of a vulture
like birk have been found that exceeded
in size the gastornis of France. Its
nam , is the megalornis, and it probably
preyed upon the monster goose, which
could not escape by flying.
The caves of various countries were
evidently the resorts of the large birds of
early times, and in many caves the re-
mains of remarkable birds have been
found. Thus, in France, a large crane
has been found in various caves, together
with the remains of the reindeer, all the
bones showing marks of the instruments
of primeval men. The remains of the
snowy owl and the willow grouse are also
common, and in the Zebug cavern, in
Malta, a gigantic extinct swan has been
South America caves have
produced over thirty-four different kinds
Of birds; but it is to New Zealand and
that we look for the most re-
markable gigantic forms. In the latter
which seems to have been the
home of many these animals, Isador
St. Hilaire found the remains of an enor-
nous bird, the @pyronis maximus. In
travelling through the country his atten-
lion was attracted to the symmetrical
dishes hat were occasionally possessed
by some of the native tribes, and think
they were gourds, he inquired where
they were obtained. To his amazement
The owners informed him that the dishes
we're part of the egg shells of a great
bird and upon further investigation he
the remains of the giant and its
eggs. The eggs, when perfect, were
each equal in size to 1876 hens eggs, and
would hold two gallons of water. This
strange bird and others that have since
been discovered seem to have been
in the sand beds of the southern
part Of the islam, and there preserved
Tor ages.