2<So SOME RESULTS OF OSTRICH INVESTICATIONS. 



simplex dominants and half nulliflex, which is what the experi- 

 ments indicate. 



Ultimate Fate of the Ostrich. 



With degeneration in progress in so many directions, the 

 (juestion may well be asked as to what will be the ultimate fate 

 of the ostrich. It is reasonable to expect that the losses already 

 initiated will continue along the same lines, if nature be allowed 

 its free and unrestrained course. Evidently some intrinsic 

 influence is at work upon the germ plasm, resulting in a slow 

 disappearance of certain i)arts of the bird in a continuous deter- 

 minate manner, and from what has already happened, we can 

 form some conclusion as to what will be the end result. Unques- 

 tionably, the plumage as a wdiole will become less and less in 

 extent. Probably no bird is at present so naked as the ostrich. 

 Both the right and left sides are almost destitute of feathers, 

 a large naked area occurs over the sternum and the pubis, the 

 legs are featherless in the adult, the under surface of the wing 

 is nearly free of plumes, the head of the northern bird is bald, 

 and the under-covering of down feathers has all but disappeared 

 from the race. The facts already presented give cv.?ry reason to 

 expect that if the ostrich were left to itself, the wing quills would 

 continue to drop out, and the present minimum of T)S plumes be 

 still further reduced ; the single row of under-coverts is in process 

 of reduction, and w-ill follow the second and third rows, which 

 have practically gone, while tiie upper-coverts are becoming less 

 and less in number ; the leg feathers may altogether cease to 

 appear, even in the chick ; the baldness may increase in extent ; 

 and the down feathers, though now vestigial and negligible as 

 regards the welfare of the bird, may drop out altogether. 



With the first and second fingers clawed, and the third finger 

 sometimes separate and distinct, and having two phalanges, the 

 wing of the ostrich, in its component parts, is less degenerate than 

 that of most birds, and the limb as a whole is more nearly related 

 to the reptilian ancestor. It is probably, however, undergoing a 

 general reduction of size rather than loss of its constituents, as is 

 also the case with Apteryx and probably other Ratitae. There is 

 evidence, however, that the third digit is in process of degenera- 

 tion, and that a shorter, narrower, wing is correlated with a 

 reduction in the mmiber of plumes. 



It is in the loss of its toes that final disaster is most likely to 

 overtake the ostrich. Already it has fewer toes than any other 

 living bird, the American ostrich, Rhea, having three, and most 

 other birds having four. Of the two remaining in the ostrich, 

 the fourth is already much reduced in comparison with the third, 

 while the ])ractical loss of its claw and the reduced number of 

 scales along its upper surface are further evidences of degenera- 

 tion. There can be little doubt that the fourth toe will in time 

 follow tlie first, second, and fifth and also disappear. Likewise 

 willi th.e th.ird or middle toe, the only one then remaining. 



