338 



SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY 





this class ; the general student can get along very well without 

 it. It may be noted that the groups labeled suborders are 

 considered orders by some zoologists, and by others families 

 merely. The classification does not include the fossil birds. 



SUBCLASS I. DROMiEOGNATHJE 



In the Dromaeognathae (Gr. Spo/xaloq, fleet, and yvdOos, jaw) 

 the wings are rudimentary and the birds are generally incapable 

 of flight. 



Fn;. 336. Apteryx australis, the kiwi, with egg. (After Parker and Haswell.) 



Order 1 Struthiones 



The members of the Struthiones (Gr. arpvOicov, ostrich) are 

 the largest living birds. They have no keel on the breastbone, 

 and the furcula is not developed. Thev include the African 

 ostrich, genus Struthio, which has two toes ; the South American 

 ostrich, genus Rhea, which has three toes; the cassowaries, 



