338 The Bird 



being of any use in supporting his great frame, they are 

 so vestigial that they look exactly like black slate-pencils 

 projecting in a row from the little fleshy flap which con- 

 tains the evidence of his full-winged ancestors 



A full-grown ostrich was once imported to this country 

 from Abyssinia. When the native keepers learned that the 

 bird was to be sent away, they surreptitiously plucked the 



Fig. 268. — Wing of Cassowary, showing degenerate flight-feathers. 



poor creature, until but few feathers were left on its body. 

 The bird was tame, and, by keeping its attention busy 

 with a basket of carrots, I inserted a piece of white card- 

 board beneath one of its skinny, denuded wings and se- 

 cured an excellent photograph (Fig. 269). This clearly 

 shows the black, curved claws on the first two fingers. 

 In this same bird I noticed that occasionally the crooked 

 forearm w^ould be raised, the claw at the end of the wing 



