1 86 STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



He has a huge crop, and then a great strong gizzard. And besides these, 

 he has a cavity that might be called a third stomach. So he is well provided. 



Of course, strong as his digestion may be, he cannot digest either nails or 

 stones ; and some people explain this by saying that his great crop wants 

 so much to fill it, that he is obliged to put in all he can get. And others 

 .say that the stones and brass and leather help him to digest his other food, 

 in the same way that grit or gravel helps our poultry at home. 



The next curious thing about the ostrich is the pair of wings that Nature 

 has given him. The wing is Nature's machine by which the bird can 

 support itself in the air, and dart or sail through it, as we may see every 

 day. But in some birds the wing fails of this purpose ; nay, is of no use 

 at all to fly with. There are two reasons why the wings of the ostrich 

 cannot bear him into the air. They are very small to begin with, and his 

 great body is too heavy to be raised by any such means. And besides this, 

 the feathers of the wings are different to those of other birds. 



Look how firm and compact is the wing of the swallow or the rook. The 

 feathers fit close together, and the little plumes on each feather hook into each 

 other by those exquisite little catches that are among the marvels of Nature. 

 If you pass your finger over the wing it feels like one smooth surface. But in 

 the wing of the ostrich the little plumes arc loose, and float lightly about. 

 The ostrich does not use his wings to fly with, though he spreads them out 

 as he runs. 



He is in many respects so like an animal, that he forms almost a link 

 between the animals and the birds. Indeed, he is so like the camel that he is 

 called the camel-bird. His foot resembles the hoof of the camel. It has only 

 two toes, and both point forward ; and the first is longer than the second, and 

 ends in a thick hoof-like claw. 



And the habits of the ostrich resemble those of the camel ; they both 

 live in the sandy desert, and are able to go a very long time without drinking. 



The ostrich does not make any nest, but merely scoops out a hole in the 

 sand. When the proper season comes, the mother ostrich begins to lay h'er 

 eggs ; she lays about a dozen, and they are very large, and of a dirty white 

 colour. In the day-time she leaves them under the burning rays of the sun ; 

 but when night comes, and the air is cooler, she broods over them. 



The natives of the country go out looking for the eggs of the ostrich. 

 One monster ^gg has in it as much as thirty of our hen's eggs, and is con- 



