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THE OSTRICH. 



CHAPTER LXXVII. 



THE OSTRICH. 



IN beginning with the feathered tribe, the 

 first animal (hat offers seems to unite the class 

 of quadrupeds and of birds in itself. While 

 it has the general outline and properties of a 

 bird, yet it retains many of the marks of the 

 quadruped. In appearance the ostrich re- 

 tembles the camel, and is almost as tall ; it is 

 covered with a plumage that resembles hair 

 much more nearly than feathers, and its in- 

 ternal parts bear as near a similitude to those 

 of the quadruped, as of the bird creation. It 

 may be considered, therefore, as an animal 

 made to fill up that chasm in nature which 

 separates one class of beings from another. 



The ostrich is the largest of all birds. 

 Travellers affirm that they are seen as tall as 

 a man on horseback ; and even some of those 

 that have been brought into England were 

 above seven feet high. The head and bill 

 somewhat resemble those of a duck ; and the 

 neck may be likened to that of a swan, but 

 that it is much longer; the legs and thighs 

 resemble those of a hen ; though the whole 

 appearance bears a strong resemblance to 

 that of a camel. But to be more particular : 

 it is usually seven feet high from the top of 

 the head to the ground ; but from the back it 

 is only four ; so that the head and neck are 

 above three feet long. From the top of the 

 head to the rump, when the neck is stretched 

 out in a right line, it is six feet long, and the 

 tail is about a foot more. One of the wings, 

 without the feathers, is a foot and a half; 

 and being stretched out, with the feathers, is 

 three feet. 



The plumage is much alike in all; that is, 

 generally black and white ; though some of 

 them are said to be gray. The greatest 

 feathers are at the extremities of the wings 

 and tail, and the largest are generally white. 

 The next row is black and white ; and of the 

 small feathers, on the back and belly, some 

 are white and others black. There are no 

 feathers on the sides, nor yet on the thighs, 



nor under the wings. The lower part of the 

 neck, about half way, is covered with still 

 smaller feathers than those on the belly and 

 back; and those, like the former, also are of 

 different colours. 



All these feathers are of the same kind, and 

 peculiar to the ostrich ; for other birds have 

 several sorts, some of which are soft and 

 downy, and others hard and strong. Ostrich 

 feathers are almost all as soft as down, being 

 utterly unfit to serve the animal for flying, and 

 still less adapted to be a proper defence 

 against external injury. The feathers of other 

 birds have the webs broader on one srde than 

 the other, but those of the ostrich have their 

 shaft exactly in the middle. The upper part 

 of the head and neck are covered with a 

 very fine, clear, white hair, that shines like 

 the bristles of a hog; and in some places 

 there are small tufts of it, consisting of about 

 twelve hairs, which grow from a single shaft 

 about the thickness of a pin. 



At the end of each wing, there is a kind of 

 spur, almost like the quill of a porcupine. It 

 is an inch long, being hollow, and of a horny 

 substance. There are two of these on each 

 wing ; the largest of which is at the extremity 

 of the bone of the wing, and the other a foot 

 lower. The neck seems to be more slender 

 in proportion to that of other birds, from its 

 not being furnished with feathers. The skin 

 in this part is of a livid flesh-colour, which 

 some improperly would have to be blue. 

 The bill is short and pointed, and two inches 

 and a half at the beginning. The external 

 form of the eye is like that of man, the upper 

 eye-lid being adorned with eye-lashes, which 

 are longer than those on the lid below. The 

 tongue is small, very short, and composed of 

 cartilages, ligaments, and membranes, inter- 

 mixed with fleshy fibres. In some it is about 

 an inch long, and very thick at the bottom. 

 In others it is but half an inch, being a little 

 forked at the end. 



