LOCOMOTION. 263 



ges, and I am satisfied that those I am speaking of 

 would have distanced the fleetest racehorses that 

 were ever bred in England. It is true they would 

 not hold out so long as a horse, but, without all 

 doubt, they would be able to perform the race in 

 less time. I have frequently beheld this sight, 

 which is capable of giving one an idea of the pro- 

 digious strength of an ostrich, and of showing what 

 use it might be of had we but the method of break- 

 ing it and managing it as we do a horse."* 



The traveller, Moore, mentions that he saw a 

 man journeying mounted upon an ostrich, though 

 both this and the instance given by M. Adanson 

 show the circumstance to be of unusual occur- 

 rence. 



The bustard (Otis tarda, RAY) is very similar to 

 the ostrich in its faculty of running, being so fleet 

 as to be hunted with greyhounds, a sport followed 

 even by the ancient Greeks, as we learn from Xen- 

 ophon and ^Elian. The male of this species is 

 furnished with a singular bag or pouch, opening 

 under the tongue, and hanging down on the fore- 

 part of the gullet as low as the middle of the neck. 

 This seems to have been first observed by Aris- 

 totle, but was particularly described by Dr. Doug- 

 las, who imagined it was intended as a reservoir 

 for water, indispensable in the extensive arid plains 

 which it inhabits. He found it capacious enough 

 to hold several quarts of water. Colonel Monta- 

 gu, however, seems to be somewhat skeptical upon 

 this point. "We think it impossible," he says, 

 " the bird could fly with such an addition of weight 

 before its wings which would throw it out of the 

 centre of gravity. We see the heron, and many 

 other birds, obliged to extend their legs behind, and 

 contract their necks when flying, in order to bal- 

 ance themselves on the wing." It would appear, 



* Voyage to Senegal, Pinkerton's Collection, xvi., 69. 



