ST*UTHIO. BIRDS. 283 



ORDER XII. CURSORES. 



Bill middle-sized, or short ; legs long, naked above the knee ; 

 and with only two or three toes, directed forwards. 



The birds which compose this order live always in the fields, and most frequently 

 in desert places, remote from woods. They are polygamous, and feed on herbs, 

 seeds, and insects. Some few of the species are incapable of flight, and others fly 

 little and near the ground. They run, however, with great celerity, not only when 

 pursued, but habitually, and differ, in this respect, from the greater number of the 

 waders, which walk by measured steps. All of them capable of rising from the 

 ground stretch their legs backwards in flight 



Gen. 1. STRUTHIO, Lin. 



Bill obtuse, straight, depressed at the tip, which is rounded 

 and unguiculated ; mandibles equal and flexible ; nostrils 

 near the middle of the bill ; legs very long, robust, and mus- 

 cular, with only two strong toes directed forwards, but the 

 inner much shorter- than the outer ; the former provided with 

 a large and blunt claw, the latter clawless ; tibia very fleshy 

 to the knee ; wings unfit for flight, being composed of long, 

 soft, and flexible feathers, and armed with a double spur. 



S. camelus, Lin. The Ostrich. Body black, the feathers varied 



with white and gray ; primary quills and tail-feathers white ; 



the female brown or ash gray, where the male is black. Inhabits 



Africa and Asia Shaw, xi. pi. 27. 



This is the largest species of the feathered tribe, weighing about eighty pounds, 

 and often measuring upwards of eight feet in height, and as many in length, from 

 the tip of the bill to the end of the tail ; but, from the ground to the top of the back 

 it seldom exceeds four feel, the rest of its height being made up by its extremely 

 long neck, the greater part of which is flesh-coloured, with a few scattered hairs. 

 The feathers on the body are lax and waving, the webs on both sides being equal, 

 and incapable of locking into a compact whole. There are two alar spurs, namely, 

 one on the end of the wing, and another on the spurious wing. These birds run 

 with great rapidity. The natural aliment of the ostrich is entirely of a vegetable 

 description, as grass, fruits, grain, &c. and they may frequently be seen pasturing 

 with the zebra and quagga. Yet so keen is their voracity that they will often swallow 

 hard, and even noxious matters, as wood, plaster, glass, stones, lead, copper, &c. " I 

 saw one at Oran," says Dr Shaw, u that swallowed, without any seeming uneasiness 

 or inconvenience, several leaden bullets, as they were thrown upon the floor, scorch- 

 ing hot from the mould." According to Adanson, the ostrich is able to run with 

 a full grown man on its back. 



Gen. 2. RHEA, Briss. Struthio, Lin. 



Bill straight, short, soft, depressed at the base, a little com- 

 pressed at the tip, which is obtuse ; lower mandible much 

 depressed, flexible, and rounded at the tip ; nostrils on the 

 lateral surface of the bill, large, longitudinally cleft, and 

 open ; legs long, with three toes before, and a callosity be- 

 hind ; wings short, with feathers more or less long, and ter- 

 minating in a spur. 



B. Americana, Tern. American Ostrich. Body white, wings and 



