The geographical distribution of animals, with a study of the relations ...

;162 . DISTRIBUTION OF EXTINCT ANIMALS. [part ii.kite (Milvus), eagle-owl {Bubo), and screech-owl (Stria) ; withthe African secretary-bird (Serpentarius), and some extinct forms,as Palceocercus, Palceohierix and Palceetus.Aquatic and wading birds were abundant, including numerousrails, bustards, herons, sandpipers, gulls, divers, and pelicans.There were also many ducks, some allied to the genus Denclrocygna;the Oriental genus of storks, Lcptoptilus ; lbidipodia, aremarkable form allied to Ibis and Ciconia ; Elornis, nearLimosa; Pelagornis, a large bird allied to gannets and pelicans ;Hydrornis, allied to the ducks and petrels ; DolicJwpterus, alliedto plovers. Perhaps the most interesting of these extinct birdsare, however, the flamingoes, represented by forms hardly distinguishablefrom living species, and by one extinct genus Palcelodus,which had very long toes, and probably walked on aquaticplants like the tropical jacanas.The Miocene beds of North India have furnished few birdsthe only one of geographical interest being an extinct speciesofostrich, not very different from that now inhabiting Arabia.On the whole, the birds of Europe at this period were verylike those now living, with the addition of a few tropicalforms.These latter were, however, perhaps more numerous and importantthan they appear to be, as they belong to inland and foresthauntingtypes, which would not be so frequently preserved asthe marsh and lake-dwelling species. Taking this into consideration,the assemblage of Miocene birds accords well withwhat we know of the mammalian fauna. We have the sameindications of a luxuriant vegetation and subtropical climate,and the same appearance of Oriental and especially of Africantypes. Trogon is perhaps the most interesting of all the formsyet discovered, since itfurnishes us with a central point whencethe living trogons of Asia, Africa, and South America mighthave diverged.In the Eocene we find ourselves almost wholly among extinctforms of birds. The earliest known Passerine bird is heremet with, in Protornis, somewhat similar to a lark, found inthe Lower Eocene of Switzerland ;while another Passerine form,Palwgithalus, and one allied to the nuthatch {Sitta), have been