10 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Ostriches. 



out iti'head and neck in a straight line with ite 

 body, remaining in this i)osition as stationary and 

 motionless a* the branch upon which it is jwrched : 

 if however it becomes fairly alarmed, it takes a ho- 

 rizontal but laborious flight for about a hundred 

 yards with it* legs hanging down as if broken. I 

 did not myself detect any note or cry, but from the 

 native's description and imitation of it, it much re- 

 sembles the clucking of the domestic fowl, endmg 

 with a scream like that of the peacock. I observed 

 that the bird* continued to lav fiom the latter part 

 of August to March, when I left that part of the 

 country; and, according to the testimony of the 

 native*, there is only an interval of about four or 

 five months, the driest and hottest part of the year, 

 l>etween their seasons of incubation. ('Birds of 

 Australia.') 



Tlie head and crest ot the mound-making Mega- 

 pode are of a deep cinnamon brown. The back of 

 the neck and all the under surface dark grey. Back 

 and wings cinnamon brown ; tail-coverts dark chest- 

 nut ; bill reddish brown. Tarsi bright orange, with 

 the exception of the lower scales of the front, and 

 those of the toes, which are dark reddish brown. 



1792.— Duperbky's Megapooe 



(Mega/xxiiuji Ihijterreyii). Tliis species, the Man- 

 goipe of the Papuans, inhabits the forests of New 

 Guinea, and was found by Lesson near the harbour 

 of Dori-ry ; he observes that it is timid, rans fast 

 among the bushes like a partridge, and utters a 

 feeble cluck. Another species, the Manesaqu6 (M. 

 Freyanetii), Lesson found common in the Island of 

 Wajgiou. 



1793. — Alecthelia Urvillii of Lesson. 



This bird, which Lesson not only regarded as a dis- 

 tinct species, but a-s the type of a distinct genus (on 

 such unphilosophical grounds are genera now esta- 

 blished), is nothing more than the young of the 

 Megapodius Duperreyii : his specimen was procured 

 from the Isle of Guebe under the equator. 



ORDER CURSORES. 



Illiger appliesthis title to a group of birds including 

 the ostrich, rhea, cassowary, and also the bustards, 

 plovers, stilt-plovers, and others ; and so, according 

 to our views, forms an order of heterogeneous ma- 

 terials. Cuvier, with better judgment, places the 

 ostrich and its allies the emeu, cassowary, &c., in a 

 distinct family group, which he calls " les Brevi- 

 pennes," and which accords with the family " Struthi- 

 onidae " of M. Vigors, excepting that the latter in- 

 cludes in it the bustards. The order " Strufliiones" 

 of the Prince of Canino corresponds with the " Bre- 

 vipennes" of Cuvier, the same order of Mr. G. R. 

 Gray agrees with the family " Struthionidae " of 

 Vigors. 



That the ostriches present us with a distinct type 

 of form and anatomy from that exemplified either 

 by the rasorial or grallatorial birds is palpable, and 

 hence we place them under the title of an order 

 ]ier se, using the term Cursores, but excluding both 

 the bustards and the plovers, &c. We are ac- 

 customed to look upon birds as denizens of the air, 

 as endowed with the powers of flight ; but in the 

 t)ird8 of this order we see a marked exception to the 

 general rule. They are strictly and exclusively 

 terrestrial. They have wings it is true, but these 

 organs are at their minimum of development, 

 while, on the contrary, the limbs are massive, 

 the bones large and stout, and the muscles 

 acting upon them exceedingly voluminous. In 

 fact the whole locomotive energy is thrown into 

 the lower extremities, while the wings, li'tle more 

 than rudimentary, are utterly inadequate to raise the 

 body from the ground. This disproportion may be 

 seen in the Skeleton of the Ostrich, Fig. 1794, and 

 still more so in that of the Apteryx, Fig. 17S)0, and 

 with it we observe that the sternum or brea.st-bone 

 is both diminished and otherwise modified. Our 

 plan, however, forbids us to enter much into anato- 

 mical details; we shall therefore proceed at once to 

 our first family. 



Family 8TRUTHI0NID>B (OSTRICH, 

 RHEA, &c.). 



The birds of this family, remarkable for the power 

 of the lower extremities, their stature, and the loose 

 texture of their plumage, are divided between Africa, 

 South America, Australia, and the islands of the 

 Indian Archipelago. Their appearance is striking; 

 but their intelligence is not of a high order, rather, 

 indeed, the contrary, though they are watchful and 

 wary. Their food consists of vegetable matters, to 

 which, in some species, insects, larvae, worms, and 

 other animal substances are added. 



1796, 1707, 1798.-THE Ostrich 

 (Struthio-Cameiuii, Linnipus). Srpoi/Soica'/iiiXot of the 

 Greeks; Struthiocamelus of Pliny; Autruche of 



the French ; Struzzo and Stnizzolo of the Italians ; 

 Strauss of the Germans. 



The genus Struthio is characterised by the beak 

 being depressed, straight, rounded and unguiculate 

 at the tip, with the nostrils longitudinal, prolonged 

 half way down the bill, and open, the legs robust, 

 with only two toes stout and strong, and connected 

 at their base by a thick membrane ; of these the 

 innermost is much larger than the outer toe, and is 

 furnished with a hoof-like claw, outer toe clawless ; 

 wings furnished with beautiful waving plumes, and 

 two plumeless shafts not unlike a porcupine's quill ; 

 head and upper half of the neck scantily covered 

 with thin down; eyes large >ind well guarded with 

 eyelashes; tongue extremely small, short, and 

 rounded. Fig. 1799 represents the Head and Foot 

 of the Ostrich ; Fig. 1800, the trout view of the 

 head, with the beak open to show the tongue. 



The resemblance of the ostrich in many structural 

 peculiarities to the ruminating quadrupeds was not 

 overlooked by the ancients, which led them to assign 

 to it the name of camel-bird, in allusion to certain 

 points of analogy between it and the camel : indeed 

 Aristotle asserts the ostrich to be partly bird and 

 partly quadruped, and Pliny observes that it may 

 be almost considered as belonging to the class of 

 beasts. The voluminous thighs divested of feathere 

 are more like those of a ([uadruped than a bird ; 

 added to which the bifid hoof-armed foot, well 

 padded beneath, bears a marked resemblance to 

 that of the camel. In this animal there is a large 

 callous pad on the chest, upon which, when reposing, 

 it throws a great portion of the weight of the body. 

 In the ostrich the sternum, which has no keel, but 

 is simply convex andshield-like, is also covered with 

 a callous pad, or elastic cushion, having a hard 

 rough surface unclothed with feathers, and on which 

 the birds rest while reposing. The eyes, with their 

 long lashes and overhanging brow, are also camel- 

 like. The vast size and sacculated form of the pro- 

 ventriculoiis (or cavity before the muscular gizzard), 

 with its extraordinary apparatus of glands for pour- 

 ing out a solvent fluid capable of reducing the 

 coarsest vegetable aliment, is not to be overlooked. 

 (See Fig. 1801, the Stomach of the Ostrich; Fig. 

 1802, the same laid open.) Nor ought we to pass 

 unnoticed the comparatively developed condition 

 of the diaphragm, which muscular expansion in the 

 Apteryx is complete. 



Like the camel, this celebrated bird is destined to 

 inhabit the wide-spread desert, beneath a burning 

 sun. It is found in the sandy wilds of Arabia, and 

 of Africa from the north to the south; everywhere 

 avoiding the presence of man, who time immemo- 

 rial has been its unrelenting pei'secutor. 



In South Aliica flocks of ostriches are often seen 

 on the Great Karroo, in company with troops of 

 quaggas, all amicably feeding together, and when 

 alarmed scouring the desert with extraordinary ra- 

 pidity. The swiftness of the ostrich is indeed very 

 great; elevating itself and vibrating its expanded 

 plumes, it leaves " horse and rider " far behind. 

 In South Africa several horsemen, taking different 

 sides of a plain, often manage to tire the bird down : 

 but when driven to extremities it frequently turns 

 infuriated on its pursuers, and will inflict dreadful 

 wounds with its claw. Dr. Shaw gives an account 

 of a person who was ripped open by the blow of an 

 enraged ostrich, which was kept tame, and which, 

 though gentle to persons with whom it was familiar, 

 was fierce and violent towards strangers. (' Travels 

 in Arabia.') In Arabia and North Afiica the chace 

 of the ostrich is accounted one of the most severe 

 of exercises both for the Arab and his courser, re- 

 quiring not only speed, but skill ; and did the bird, 

 instead of wheeling round in circles of greater or 

 less extent, dart forward in a direct line, the hunter 

 would find his ett'orts fruitless : as it is, he is gene- 

 rally enabled, after some exertion, to dash across the 

 path of the bird, and throw his djerid or fire his 

 gun. From the swiftness of the ostrich, and its 

 (lower of endurance at full speed for hours, we may 

 easily conceive that its strength must be very great. 

 Adans,on saw two tame ostriches at the factory of 

 Podor, on the south bank of the Niger. "They 

 were both so tame,' he says, "that two little blacks 

 mounted together on the back of the largest, and 

 no sooner did he feel their weight than he began to 

 run as fast as ever he could, till he carried them 

 several times round the village, and it was impos- 

 sible to stop him otherwise than by obstructing the 

 passage. To try their strength, I made a full- 

 grown negro mount the smallest, and two others the 

 largest. This burden did not seem to me at all 

 disproportioned to their strength. At firet they went 

 at a moderate gallop ; when they were heated a 

 little, they expanded their wings as if to catch the 

 wind, and then scoured along with such fleetness 

 that they seemed not to touch the ground : they 

 would have distanced the fleetest racehoraes that 

 were ever bred in England." 



The ostrich is polygamous. " The male ostrich 

 in South Africa, at the time of breeding," savs a 



personal observer, " usually associates to himself 

 Irom two to six females. The hens lay all their 

 eggs together in one nest, this being merely a shal- 

 low cavity scraped in the ground of such dimen- 

 sions as to be conveniently covered by one of these 

 gigantic birds during incubation. The hens relieve . 

 each other during the day, and tlie male takes his 

 turn at night, when his superior strength is required 

 to protect the eggs or the new-fledged young from 

 jackals, tiger-cats, and other enemies. Some of 

 these animals are not unfrequently found lying dead 

 near the nest, killed by a stroke from the foot of 

 this powerful bird. As many as sixty eggs are some- 

 times Ibund in and around an ostrich nest ; but a 

 smaller number is more common. Each female 

 lays from twelve to sixteen eggs. They continue to 

 lay during incubation, and even alter the young 

 brood are hatched; the supernumerary eggs are not 

 placed in the nest, but around it, being designed (it 

 IS reported) to assist in the nourishment of the 

 young birds, which.though as large as a pullet when 

 first hatched, are probably unable at first to digest 

 the hard and acrid food on which the old ones sub- 

 sist. The period of incubation is from thirty-six to 

 forty days. In the middle of the day the nest is 

 often left by all the birds, the heat ot the sun being 

 then sufficient to keep the eggs at the proper tem- 

 perature." 



With respect to the passage in Job xxxix. 1~>, it 

 may be observed, that within the torrid zone the 

 eggs are merely laid in the warm sand, the incuba- 

 tion of the female being required only at night ; so 

 far, however, is she from neglecting her oit'spring, 

 that she watches over them with as much solicitude 

 as any other bird, hovering around the spot where 

 they are deposited, and if surprised, making a short 

 circuit and returning to the object of her care. 



The flesh of the ostrich when young is very palat- 

 able, and the eggs are excellent. If, however, the 

 bird perceives that the latter have been disturbed 

 by the hand or that the nest has been visited, she 

 breaks them all and abandons the spot ; hence the 

 natives abstract these delicacies by means of a long 

 stick, with the utmost caution, and endeavour to 

 prevent the prints of their footsteps from being vi- 

 sible ; if this be well managed, the hen will continue 

 to lay for some time. 



The food of the ostrich consists of the tops of 

 shrubby plants, seeds, and grain ; strange to say, 

 however, it will swallow with indiscriminating vora- 

 city stones, sticks, pieces of metal, cord, leather, and 

 other substances, which often occasion its destruc- 

 tion. A fine specimen in the gardens of the Zool. 

 Soc. ultimately died in consequence of swallowing 

 part of a paiasol. 



The voice of the ostrich is, under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, a hoarse sonorous sort of chuckle, but it 

 is said to utter, especially at night, a. roaring so like 

 that of the lion, as to deceive the Hottentots. 



The young ostrich is covered with coarse mottled 

 and striped plummage of a blackish brown and yel- 

 lowish white : the feathers of the back having the 

 shafts dilated into a thin horny strip. 



The height of the adult male is from seven to 

 eight feet or more, standing upright. The beautiful 

 plumes which are so valued in commerce are pro- 

 cured from the wings and tail. 



Great as is in modern days the slaughter of os- 

 triches, in the times of the Roman emperors it must 

 have been far more considerable. We read of the 

 brains of six hundred having been on one occasion 

 served up in a single dish : and Vopistus is said to 

 have devoured an entire ostrich (a chicken doubt- 

 less) at one sitting. 



By the Mosaic law the ostrich was forbidden as 

 food, and the Arabs still regard it as unclean. 



1803. — Darwin's Rhea 



{Rhea Darwinii). In the genus Rhea the bill 

 much resembles that of the ostrich, but is smaller, 

 and the head and neck are completely feathered ; 

 the wings are furnished with plumes and terminated 

 by a hooked spur. The feet are three-toed, the 

 middle toe being much the largest, and are armed 

 with stout claws. This genus is peculiar to South 

 America. * Fig. 1804 represents the Foot of the 

 Rhea. 



Two species of Rhea are now known, of which 

 one, the Rhea Darwinii, has been but recently in- 

 troduced to science. The other, long known, is the 

 Nanilu or Nhandu-Guafu of the Brazilians ; the Tuiju 

 of Laci'pede : Struthio Rhea of Linnaeus (Rhea 

 Americana, Temminck). By travellers it is often 

 called "ostrich." The v.ings of this species are 

 more developed than in the true ostrich, and are 

 adorned with long slender plumes — those answering 

 to the quill-feathers are white. The plumes of this 

 bird are imported into England as an article of 

 commerce, and are often seen fixed in a handle, so 

 as to form light and delicate dusting-brushes. In 

 its natural attitude the Nandu stands about five feet 

 high : its general colour is greyish brown inter- 

 mingled with black passing into a lighter tint on 



