. The structure and life of birds . e latter, and in the Ostrichthe bone is complete. (6) The birds feathercorresponds to the hornycoating of the reptilesscale. The snake moults,when, as we say, he sheds his skin. In 1861 there wasfound in the LithographicStone at Solenhofen inBavaria the form of ananimal very different fromany that had ever beenseen either alive or asfossils. This stone be-longs to the Jurassic sys-tem and, consequently,was deposited in theSecondary or Mesozoicperiod, and long, too,before that period wasconcluded. Here was afeathered creature pre-served in the form of abas-re
. The structure and life of birds . e latter, and in the Ostrichthe bone is complete. (6) The birds feathercorresponds to the hornycoating of the reptilesscale. The snake moults,when, as we say, he sheds his skin. In 1861 there wasfound in the LithographicStone at Solenhofen inBavaria the form of ananimal very different fromany that had ever beenseen either alive or asfossils. This stone be-longs to the Jurassic sys-tem and, consequently,was deposited in theSecondary or Mesozoicperiod, and long, too,before that period wasconcluded. Here was afeathered creature pre-served in the form of abas-relief, with the detail standing out so distinct andclear, that something even of the minute structure ofthe feathers might be seen. As Sir Richard Owenshowed, it was a bird of a very primitive form. The CO % Fig. -Coracoid of Rhea. coracoid ; pco, precoracoid ; sc,capula. in RELATIONSHIP TO REPTILES 35 fossil is now at South Kensington. In 1877 a moreperfect example of a bird of the same species wasfound and is to be seen at Head of Archseoptery: This ancient bird was about the size of a rook. Histail was long, consisting of twenty vertebrae, at leastthe twelve hindmost bearing a pair of well-developed
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