CHAPTER XVI 



THE HISTORY OF THE OSTRICH 



Were the ancestors of the Ostrich able to fly, 

 and is the Ostrich, as we know him, an instance of 

 " degradation " ? Have his wings, after being large 

 and strong enough for flight, been reduced till they 

 are useless except to give some slight help in 

 running ? There are many examples of such degra- 

 dation. Some moths, for instance the female Oak- 

 egger, have lost the power of flight. In the vegetable 

 kingdom wheat is a good instance. It has three 

 rudimentary calyx leaves and remnants of a corolla, 

 which seem to show that it was once a perfect flower 

 with its parts in threes like a lily. This is a clear 

 case, for the corolla in its present form is useless, and 

 " degradation " is the only principle on which we can 

 account for its existence. But in many cases we 

 cannot tell whether an organ is progressing towards 

 a more perfect, or reverting to a less perfect, state. 

 Those who maintain that the Ostrich and its allies 

 are very far removed from the Carinatae, or birds with 

 keeled breastbones, and that their ancestors, like 



