CURSORIAL BIRDS. 



539 



maximus, of Madagascar, supposed by some to be the roc 

 of the Arabian Nights' Tales. Of this colossal bird, remains 

 of the skull, some vertebrae, and a tibia 64 cent, long, have 

 been found. The single egg discovered is of the capacity of 

 one hundred and fifty hens' eggs. 



To this order belong the three-toed cassowaries of the 

 East Indies and Australia, and the emeu of Australia ; both 





Fig. 461. Moa, Palapteryx, with three Kiwi-kiwi birds. After Hochstetter, from 

 Tenney's Zoology. 



of these birds are about 2 metres (5-7 feet) high. The 

 South American ostrich ( RJiea A mericana) with three toes to 

 each foot, is a smaller bird, standing 1-3 metres high, run- 

 ning in small herds on the pampas. The two-toed ostrich 

 (8truthio camelus Linn.), of the deserts of Africa and 

 Arabia, now reared for the feathers of its wings and tail, so 



