As he passed, he caressed the carved balustrades which were worked into faithful copies of the ancient bird.

Sleeping bats hung within the high cone of the roof, and the rafters were heaped with ancient birds' nests.

Cathartornis gracilis is an ancient bird of the Teratorn family.

The helicopters loomed against the star- bright sky like ancient birds of prey, asleep.

So each year, these ancient birds abandon more sites.

But scientists believe it may have preyed on ancient birds 128 million years ago, using its long fangs to penetrate their plumage.

His face had the leathery, hook-nosed appearance of an ancient bird.

"The left and right wings of the party establishment - two great pinions of an ancient bird of prey".

A report to be published today discloses surprising evidence that some ancient birds, unlike modern ones, may have been cold-blooded.

Their study, published in the journal Science, revealed the chemical fingerprint of pigments that once tinted the ancient bird's feathers.