J34 EXTRAO RDIIVT ARY BIRDS. 



fecond to it in magnitude ; by much the largeft bird in the New Conti- 

 inent: at full growth fix feet high ; its legs are three feet long ; its thigh is 

 near as thick as that of a man. The toe? differ frpm thofe of the oftrich, as - 

 there are three in the American bird, and but two in the former. Itsnecic 

 is long, its head fmall, and bill flacred like the oftrich; but, in other re- 

 fpefts, it more refembles a Caflbwary. The form of the body appears 

 round; the wings are iljort, and unfit for flying; has no tail, but is co- 

 vered on the back and rump with long feathers, which fall backward, and 

 cover the anus: thefe feathers are grey on the back, and white on the 

 belly. It is very fwift, and feerns affifted in its motion by a kind of tu- 

 bercle behind, like an heel, upon which, on plain ground, it treads very 

 jfecurely, but not on a defcent j in its courfe it ufes a very odd kind of 

 aftion, lifting up one wing, which it keeps elevated for a time, till, let- 

 ting it drop, it lifts up the other; whether as a fail to catch the wind, or 

 as a rudder to turn its courfe, to avoid the arrows of the Indians, re- 

 mains to be afcertained : however this be, the eriiu runs with fuch 

 fwiftnels, that the fleeted dogs are thrown oqt in the purfuit. One of 

 them, finding itfelf furrounded by the hunters, darted among the dogs 

 with fuch fury, that they made way to ayoid its rage ; and it efcaped, by 

 Its amazing velocity, in fafety to the mountains. 



■' When the young ones are hatched, they are familiar, and follow the 

 firft perfon they mcev. I hav^ been followed myfelf, fays Wafer, by 

 many of thefe young oftriches, which at firft are extremely harmlefs 

 and fimple, but as they grow older, they become more cunning and dif- 

 truftful ; and run fo fwift, that a grcyhpund can fcarcely overtake them. 

 Their flefh, in general, is good to be earenj efpecially when young. 

 Their maintenance could not be expenfivc, if, as Narborough fays, they 

 live entirely upon grafs. 



The lateft account we have of this bird is by Captain Tench, in his ac- 

 ' count of Botany Bay, which we (hall give in his own words. 



"^^ Thebird which' principally claim? attention is a fpecies of oftrich, 

 approaching nearer to the Emu of South America than any other we know 

 of. One of them was fhot, at a confiderable diftancc, with a fingle ball, 

 by a convift employed for that purpofe by the governor; its weight, 

 when complete, was feyenty pounds, and its' length from the end of the 

 toe to the tip of the beak, fevcn feet two inches, though there was reafon 

 to believe it had not attained its full growth. On dificdlion many ana- 

 tomical JTingularities were obfervcd : the gall-bladder was remarkably 

 large, the liver' not bigger than that of a bani-door fowl, and after the 

 ' ■'• . '. . ftiideft 



