Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-12
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.
IV-Birds by the Hundred Thousand.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

species of the same family of birds, and
they have been very infinitely studied by
many eminent anatomists as affording
sOnfirmation of the theory of animal evOlu-
ton. The technical name OF this bird is
archaeopteryx but it Is commonly known
as the lizard-tailed bird. 1t was about
the size of crow and had numerous
teeth in its upper jaw. 1t had long tail
and four toes on each foot. 1t is so
closely related to the reptile that paleon-
tologists have differed somewhat as to
whether it belonged to the reptilian class
or to the bird class. The doubt has been
resolved in favor Of the latter opinion.
1t is the belief Of w. p. Pyeraft. the
Museum, that the ancestors of this bird
were reptiles which first substituted
jumping from branch to branch for
climbing, and then again jumping
limbs for grasping at the end Of
each leap. Nearly all other scientific
men take 1t as a definitely settled theory
that the bird developed it's organs of
flight in its millions Of years of climbing
up out of the reptile class. 1t is not. of
course, believed that they are descendants
of any reptile like those on the earth
today, but that they came down from
such ancient reptiles as the dinosaur.
The next most ancient birds that are
known to have existed were the Ameri-
can "toothed'
Fossil Remains birds. fossil
of "Toothed" Birds. which were
found in western Kansas some thirty
years ago. While the archaeopteryx
seems to be. in the language Of one natur-
alist, three-fourths bird and one-fourth
reptile, the American toothed bird OF
Kansas was entitled to be called nine
tenths bird and one-tenth reptile. The
National Museum possesses the fossil re-
mains of some of the American toothed
birds. There were different species of
these birds. One known as the Hesper-
ornis, was a flightless bird nearly four
feet long and great swimmer and diver.
it's legs being set almost at right angles
to its body instead of downward as in
other birds. The second kind of toothed
bird is known as the Ichthyornis. 1t
was about the size of a common pigeon
the Hesperornis could not fly at all. The
existence of these birds was discovered
by Marsh. whose fossil collections are
among the most valuable possessed by
the National Museum.
There are great many interesting spe-
cies Of birds in the National Museum col
lections. One of these Is the Kiwis. OF
Stuart Island. in the Pacific. 1t is said
that although they are apparently insen-
sible to pain when attacked, they are
naturally very timid. If the moon is
bright, their own shadow will sometimes
cause them uneasineSs The smaller bird
will run as long as his legs will carry
him from the least show OF anger in q
larger and stronger one. The female
kiwis seem to be the worlds original suf-
fragettes as the relationship existing be-
tween the sexes appears to be reversed.
The female is the defender Of the home,
and after the young ones are able to fol-
low their parents, 1t is the male who
takes care Of them instead Of their
mother.
Another interesting bird, specimens of
which were sent to the museum by the
o cit
Secretary Bird African expe-
r.ru dition, is the
80 ~~10A'' sec q ry
bird 1t mas q series OF long black or