384 GRALLATOEES, OB WADING BIRDS. 



so far as to cause a dish composed of the brains of six hundred 

 Ostriches to be served at a feast : this must have cost some hun- 

 dreds of thousands of francs. 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 applica- 

 tion 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 of their habits they also resemble each other ; 

 the Ostrich lies down in the same way as the Camel, by first 

 bending the knee, then leaning forward on the fleshy pa,rt of the 

 sternum, and letting its hinder quarters sink down last of all. 



An entire volume might be filled with the fables recorded about 

 the Ostrich. In the first place, according to the Arabs, it is the 

 issue of a bird and a camel. One Arabian author states that 

 it is aquatic in its nature, another maintains that it never 

 drinks. They still assert that its principal food consists of 

 stones and bits of iron. Buffon himself does not deny that it 

 might swallow red-hot iron, provided the quantity was small. 

 Pliny and (following him) Pierre Belon, the naturalist of the 

 Renaissance, state that when the Ostrich is pursued it fancies 

 itself safe if it can hide its head behind a tree, caring little about 

 the remainder of its body ; and some of these absurd ideas are 

 still deeply rooted in the minds of the public. 



It is certain, however, that the Ostrich is extremely voracious. 

 Although the senses of sight and hearing are so highly developed 

 that it is said to make out objects two leagues off, and the 

 slightest sounds excite its ear, the senses of taste and smell are 

 very imperfect. This is the explanation given for its readiness 

 to swallow unedible substances. In a wild state it takes into 

 its stomach large pebbles to increase its digestive powers; in 

 captivity it gorges bits of wood and metal, pieces of glass, plaster, 

 and chalk, probably with the same object. The bits of iron found 

 in the body of one dissected by Cuvier " were not only worn 



