CLASS AVES 



595 



, 



Order 3. Struthioniformes. OSTRICHES. - -The ostriches are 

 the largest living birds, attaining a height of more than eight 

 feet, and a weight of over three hundred pounds. Four species 

 are recognized by some authorities. The ostriches or camel 

 birds of North Africa, Struthio camelus (Fig. 480), live in desert 

 regions and travel about in groups, usually of from four to twenty. 

 They are very suspicious and flee from any signs of danger. 

 They do not stick their heads in 

 the sand and think themselves 

 hidden, as commonly reported. 

 Their speed is remarkable, reach- 

 ing sixty miles an hour, and their 

 single strides may measure more 

 than twenty- five feet. They are 

 omnivorous, feeding upon many 

 kinds of plants and animals. 

 The nest is a hollow in the 

 sand, and several females lay 

 their eggs in a single nest. Each 

 egg weighs from three to four 

 pounds. The males do most of 

 the incubating. The young, 

 which appear in six or seven 

 weeks, run about as soon as 

 they emerge from the shell. 



Ostrich feathers are now 

 procured almost entirely from 

 domesticated birds. In 1904 



there were in South Africa over three hundred and fifty 

 thousand tame ostriches which yielded an annual income 

 of about $18 each. Ostrich farming is now successfully 

 carried on in California, Arizona, Arkansas, North Caro- 

 lina, and Florida. The feathers are clipped without pain 

 to the birds; those from a single adult weigh about one 

 pound. 



FIG. 480. Ostrich, Struthio camelus. 

 (From Evans.) 



