354 



REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



and capable of immense muscular effort, thus enabling them to run 

 with extraordinary fleetness. 



The deduction to be drawn from these facts is, that the Brevi- 

 pennes are essentially land birds. This limitation of their habitat 

 necessitated certain modifications in the sternum, which, instead of 

 a prominent edge of bone in the centre, as in other birds, only pre- 

 sents one uniform breast-plate. Again, most of the Brevipennes are 

 birds of large size, and, in certain circumstances, manifest remarkable 

 vigour. 



This group comprehends the Ostrich, Emu, Rhea, Cassowary, and 

 the Apteryx. 



The head of the Ostrich (Struttiio camelus, PLATE XL) is naked 

 and callous, with a short bill, much depressed and rounded at the 

 point ; its legs are half naked, muscular, and fleshy ; the tarsi are 

 long and rough, terminating in two toes pointing forward, one of 

 which is shorter than the other and has no claw ; the wings are very 

 short, and formed of soft and flexible feathers ; the tail taking the 

 form of a plume. 



There is but one species of the Ostrich ; it is sparsely diffused 

 over the interior of Africa, and is rarely found in Asia except perhaps 

 in Arabia. It is the largest member of the Grallatores, generally 

 measuring six feet in height, and occasionally attaining nine feet ; its 

 weight varies from twenty to a hundred pounds. 



The Ostrich has been known from the most remote antiquity. It 

 is spoken of in the sacred writings, for Moses forbade the Hebrews 

 to eat of its flesh, as being " unclean food." The Romans, however, 

 far from sharing the views of the Jewish legislator, considered it a 

 great culinary luxury. In the days of the Emperors they were con- 

 sumed in considerable numbers ; and we read that the luxurious 

 Heliogabalus carried his magnificence so far as to cause a dish 

 composed of the brains of 600 ostriches to be served at a feast : 

 this must have cost an almost incalculable sum. In former 

 days it was a favourite dish with the tribes of Northern Africa. At 

 the present date the Arabs content themselves with using its fat as 

 an outward application in certain diseases, especially rheumatic 

 affections ; and they derive from it, as they say, very beneficial 

 effects. 



The natives of Africa call the Ostrich " the camel of the desert/' 

 just as the Latins denominated it Struthio camelus. There is, in fact, 

 some likeness between them. This resemblance consists in the 

 length of the neck and legs, in the form of the toes,, and in the 

 callosities which are found on the lower stomach of both. In some. 



