Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 179, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1920 — FIRST OF FEATHERED THINGS [ARTICLE]

FIRST OF FEATHERED THINGS

Archaeopteryx Must Have Been a Remarkable Looking Bird From Accounts of Its Appearance. Today the birds are all quite different than they were years ago. The first bird that was ever seen on earth called the Archaeopteryx, which Is" a Greek word, meaning “ancient wing.” It was a very odd bird. It had a long, thick tall, with bows of flesh and with feathers growing from it. It was not like a bird’s tall Is now, but more like a lizard’s tail. It had two legs, with which It could walk and perch in the trees. It also had two other limbs like hands, which It probably used to climb about the trees, Instead of flying from bough to bough, as birds do now. Its eye was fitted with a sort of armor shield, as the reptile’s. Its beak was armed with strong teeth. Of course there Is no such bird as this now, and It Is not surprising that such a bird should pass away. Even In these days two or three strange birds have died out. Men have killed many birds and animals, but in making Die world what it now Is, nature has killed far more. Whole races of animals have been destroyed by earthquakes and floods. In time nature changes all things, and so she did the birds.