222 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
NEST AND EGGS OF THE OSTRICH. 
of the former, the barbules will be seen to be very numerous, and 
on most of them vestiges of barbicels are easily distinguished. 
Thus an exact homology exists between an ostrich feather as a 
whole, and the proximal barbs of the condor’s feather, brought 
about on the one hand by the loss of flight, and on the other by 
the overlapping of the adjacent wing coverts. This latter con- 
dition in the condor does away with the need for cohesiveness, 
which is such a necessity in the barbs of the more distal portion 
of the feather, where they are exposed to the impact of the air. 
The body feathers of the Emeu and Cassowary are alike in 
being long and tapering, narrow-vaned and with an aftershaft, 
nearly as large as the rhachis of the main feather. A typical 
body feather of an Emeu presents several points of interest. A 
feather that is twelve inches in length has the proximal half of 
the barbs densely covered with soft, down-like barbules, which 
are destitute of barbicels. Throughout the distal half of the 
feather, barbules are absent and the barbs are broad, flat and 
horny. The texture of scales 1s redeveloped while yet the feather 
form is retained. This portion of the feather brings to mind the 
much divided leaflets of certain of the acacias. No reason has 
