AVES 33 s 



The ostrich reaches a height of 6 to 8 feet and may weigh 450 

 pounds. Its single stride when running is 25 feet and it runs 60 

 miles per hour, but in circles, and is easily caught. It uses its two- 

 toed feet in defense and can kick a horse to the ground. Ostriches 

 do not hide their heads in the sand, but they do thrust them into 

 the sand in search of water which they frequently find. The eggs 

 are said to contain as much food as 24 hens' eggs. African savages 

 utilize the egg shells as containers. Ostrich plumes are extremely 

 valuable or less so according to the fashion dictated by milady. 

 High tariff, overproduction, and post-war depression, caused the 

 price of feathers to drop from I14 to less than $4 a pound. There 

 are now about 250,000 birds on African ostrich farms. In the 

 United States, ostriches have been bred since 1882. The plumes are 

 plucked or clipped twice a year. (Figure 183.) 



The emu is an Australian form next to the ostrich in size. It 

 lacks the ornamental wings and tail plumage of the ostrich. The 

 cassowaries inhabit Australia and the Malay Archipelago. They 

 have long silky plumage and live in thickly wooded regions. Some- 

 times they take to the water for bathing. The female cassowary is 

 larger than the male. Both sexes are black. The plumage is made 

 into rugs, mats and head ornaments. The r-heas, the New World 

 ostriches, live on the pampas of the Argentine Republic, Southern 

 Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. Their wings are better developed 

 than those of the ostrich. They flap them as they run. 



The elephant birds, now extinct, were existent in Madagascar 

 400 years ago. They were flightless and about 7 feet tall. Their 

 eggs, found in Madagascar, are 13x9 inches with a capacity of two 

 gallons. A single Aepyornis egg was equal to 12 ostrich eggs, 288 

 hens' eggs, or 500,000 humming-bird eggs. The natives of Mada- 

 gascar claim that elephant birds are still left in the interior, but this 

 is doubted. The 7noa {Dinorthiformes), now extinct, lived in New 

 Zealand 500 years ago. It was like the ostrich, but with heavier 

 bones and rudimentary wings. The kiwis of New Zealand belong 

 to the genus Apteryx, and are not completely wingless. They are 

 probably related to the cassowaries. Their voice is a shrill sound — 

 KI-WI. The nostrils are at the tip of the bill. The male incubates 

 the eggs which are about one-fifth the body weight of the bird. 



Tinamousy which are found from South America to Mexico, are 

 classed by some authorities near the ostriches and considered 

 Ratitae; while others class them as an aberrant family of the order 



