The tenth group contains the HARPAGOPUS, a name derived from
_harpage_, _seizure_, _rapine_. It is represented by President
Hitchcock as having the form of a drag. The figure given by him
resembles in a degree the foot of the African ostrich; being a long
thick toe, with a shorter one, not unlike a thumb, on the side. An
impression approximating this, but of small size, may be seen on the
slab of the Anomoepus Scambus.
* * * * *
The formation of bird-tracks is well represented by a clay specimen,
about an inch thick, and ten inches long. This is a piece of dried
clay, obtained by President Hitchcock from the banks of the
Connecticut, and produced by washings from clay on the shore above,
covered with foot-impressions of a small tridactylous bird, and dried
in the sun. This piece shows, in a way not to be questioned, the
manner in which the ancient vestiges were produced. Sir Charles Lyell
noticed a similar fact on the banks of the Bay of Fundy.