. The study of animal life . f the keeled fossil birds, some of whichpossessed teeth. Distinct from the keeled fliers, both ancient and modern,are the running-birds, whichare incapable of flight, andtherefore possess a flat raft-like breast bone, to whiclithey owe their title Ratita;.Nowadays these are few innumber, the Ostrich and theRhea, the Cassowary andEmu, and the small Kiwi,lieside these must be rankedthe giant Moa of New Zea-land, not long extinct, andthe more ancient, not lessgigantic y-Epyontis of Mada-gascar, while farther backstill, from the Chalk strataof America, the remains ofto
. The study of animal life . f the keeled fossil birds, some of whichpossessed teeth. Distinct from the keeled fliers, both ancient and modern,are the running-birds, whichare incapable of flight, andtherefore possess a flat raft-like breast bone, to whiclithey owe their title Ratita;.Nowadays these are few innumber, the Ostrich and theRhea, the Cassowary andEmu, and the small Kiwi,lieside these must be rankedthe giant Moa of New Zea-land, not long extinct, andthe more ancient, not lessgigantic y-Epyontis of Mada-gascar, while farther backstill, from the Chalk strataof America, the remains oftoothed keelless birds havebeen disentombed. The most reptilian, leastbird-like of birds is theoldest fossil of all, placed ina sub-class by itself, theAiclucopteryx (lit. ancientbird) from strata of Jurassicage. 9. Mammalia.—Of thehighest class of animals—the Mammalia—I need say least for theyare most familiar. Most of them are terrestrial, four-footed, andhairy. Bats and whales, seals and sea-cows, are obviously excep-. Fit;. 57.—Restoration of the extiact niua {Din-ornis ingetu), and alongside of it the littlekiwi {A^ieryx tnantelli). (From Cham-berss £«c>c/<?/. ; after F. v. Hochstetter.) 268 The Study of Animal Life part ii; tional. The brain of mammals is more highly developed thanthat of other animals, and in the great majority there is a prolonged(placental) connection between the unborn young and the all cases the mothers feed the tender young with milk. In the class there are three grades :— (i) In the Duckmole {Ornithorhynchus) and the PorcupineAnt-Eater (Echidna), and perhaps another genus Proechidna, thefemales lay eggs. In many other ways these exclusively Austral-asian mammals are primitive, exhibiting affinities with reptiles. (2) In the Marsupials, which, with the exception of someAmerican Opossums, are also Australasian, the young are bom ata very tender age, as it were, prematurely. In the great majorityof genera, the mothers stow th
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