GREAT OSTRICH. 181 



33. OSTRICH TRIBE. 



All the birds of the present tribe have wings so small 

 that they are unable to rise from the ground in flight. 

 They, however, run with great swiftness. In size they 

 far exceed all the feathered race. 



Grecft Ostrich. This is the largest of all known birds, 

 its height, from the top of the head to the ground, being 

 seven feet and upwards. Its wings are remarkably short 

 in comparison with the size of the body, and are furnished 

 with those waving and flexible feathers which are em- 

 ployed in the head-dress of females in this country. These 

 birds have so little discrimination with respect to their 

 food, that they have been known to swallow nails, and 

 other hard and pointed substances, earthenware, glass, 

 and every kind of metallic substance, indiscriminately. In 

 confinement they may be fed on bread, potatoes, corn, 

 and vegetables. An Ostrich will eat four or five pounds 

 weight of barley, a pound of bread, and ten or twelve 

 lettuces, and drink four or five pints of water a day. In 

 a wild state these birds inhabit the burning plains of Africa 

 and Asia, where the rapidity of their course is perfectly 

 astonishing. One of these birds, with a negro mounted 

 upon its back, is said to have run with a degree of swift- 

 ness so great that the fleetest race-horse would have been 

 far distanced. They are unable to fly, but they employ 

 their wings to accelerate their speed, by beating the air. 

 When pursued, they are said to be such stupid birds, that 

 they will hide their heads behind a tree or other object, 

 and, conceiving themselves concealed, the hunter may ap- 

 proach and kill them without difficulty. This, however, 

 is a fabulous notion, by no means founded on fact. Os- 



