CLASS AVES: ORDEK BBEVIPENNES. 143 



Fig. 239. Fig. ZW. 



Ortyx virginianus, Coturnlx commUnis, 



Bob-white or Quail. J. European Quail. 



night, the whole covey roost on the ground in a close circle, 

 their heads directed outward.* 



ORDER BREVIPENNES. 



General Characteristics. The Short-winged birds are 

 confined to the earth, and hence the wonderful muscular 

 power in the fore limbs of other birds is in them transferred 

 to the hind limbs. They have two or three toes, terminating 

 in strong claws. The breast-bone is flat, and the pelvic 

 bones are united in front. 



DDCV/IDCMMCC 5 NOSTRILS AT THE BASE OP THE BILL. StruthionidSB, Ostrich. 



BKtYIKtNINtb. $ BND OF A LONG BILL. Apterygidse, Apteryx. 



Strnthionidse. The Ostrich is the largest living bird. 

 Its bill is broad, its long tarsi are covered with scales, and 

 large femur bones with voluminous muscles. 



The African Ostrich stands eight to ten feet high, and is 

 the swiftest-footed of all animals. f It is remarkable chiefly 



wmmunis) is found in the Old World and is migratory in habit, leaving Africa in the 

 spring and returning from Europe in the autumn. Passing the Mediterranean in 

 immense flocks, millions are captured as they alight upon the rocky islands. 



* To this order belongs the Domestic Fowl (Oallus banlava). The original stock, 

 however, has been so modified by cultivation for thousands of years, that it cannot 

 be identified though it is generally supposed to have come from India. 



t The Ostrich will run thirty miles per hour. It is captured by the Arabs on 

 their fleet steeds only after a chase of a day or two, by several relays of horses and 



