80 TALKS ABOUT BIRDS 



America, however, are not real ostriches, 

 but rheas, birds of quite a different kind, and 

 not nearly so big. A fine ostrich may be as 

 much as eight feet from the ground to the top 

 of his head, but a rhea would not be more 

 than five. Besides, the rhea has no notice- 

 able tail, and three toes instead of two, the 

 ostrich being the only bird there is which 

 has as few as two toes. 



It has, indeed, several other peculiarities 

 as well as its great size ; for one thing, though 

 its plumes are so fine, it has less feathers on 

 its body than any other bird, for the sides 

 and the big muscular thighs are quite naked, 

 and the head and neck are nearly so. This 

 gives the ostrich rather an unfledged, un- 

 dignified appearance, and it is not so stately 

 as many much smaller kinds of birds. No 

 one would ever think of making the ostrich 

 king of birds, even if he were able to fly. 



It may seem strange at first that all the 

 biggest birds have to live on the ground like 

 beasts ; but it seems to be the case that a very 

 big bird gets too heavy for its wings to be 

 of much use to it. There have been bigger 

 birds than the ostrich which could not fly, 



