321 BIRDS. 



of life, and this is more or less aquatic. Almost all these birds, the Os- 

 triches and Cassowaries excepted, have long wings, and fly well; during 

 this action they extend their legs backwards, differing in this from all 

 others, which fold them under the belly. 



In this order we establish five principal families, and some insulated 

 genera. 



FAMILY I. 



BREVIPENNES. 



These birds, although similar in general to the other Grallatoria, differ 

 from them greatly in one point — the shortness of the wings, which ren- 

 ders flight impossible. The bill and regimen give them, in other respects, 

 numerous affinities with the Gallinaceas. 



It seems that the muscular powers which nature distributes would be 

 altogether inadequate to the task of putting in motion wings so vast as a 

 bird of this bulk would require to sustain it in the air. The sternum is 

 a simple buckler, and is deficient in that ridge which is found in all other 

 birds. The pectoral muscles are very thin, but the posterior extremities 

 regain the powers which the wings have lost — the muscles of the thighs, 

 and of the legs in particular, being enormously thick and stout. 



The thumb is always deficient*. They form two genera. 



^ Struthio, Lin. 



The Ostriches have wings furnished with loose and flexible feathers, 

 but still sufficiently long to increase their speed in running. Every one 

 knows the elegance of these slender-stemmed plumes, the barbs of which, 

 although furnished with little hooks, always remain separate, contrary to 

 what takes place in most other birds. Their bill is horizontally depress- 

 ed, of a moderate length, and blunt at the end ; their tongue short, and 

 rounded like a crescent, their eye large, and the lid fringed with lashes; 

 their legs and tarsi very long. They have an enormous crop, a large 

 stomach between the crop and gizzard, voluminous intestines, long caeca, 

 and a vast reservoir in which the urine accumulates as in a bladder, — be- 

 ing the only birds which can be said to urinate. The penis is very large, 

 and frequently exposed f. 



• The number of the phalanges is as follows, commencing with the internal toe : 

 Ostrich, 4, 5 : 



Nandou and Cassowary, 3, 4, 5. 



Which amounts to the numbers common among birds, 

 t For the genito-urinary organs of birds, and those of the Ostrich in particular, 

 consult the Mem. of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Mem. du Mus., torn. XV. 



