CHAPTER XVI 



OSTRICHES 



The ostrich is unlike other birds in many important characters. 

 It is not a typical bird. While it has feathers and wings, its 

 feathering is not normal, and the muscles of the wings are lack- 

 ing. In the minds of most persons it is associated with the 

 circus menagerie rather than with the poultry yard, but, as we 

 shall see, this singular bird has a place in domestication and, as 

 a useful land bird, belongs to the poultry group. There are two 

 species of ostriches, but only one of these is of economic value. 



Description. The ostrich is the largest of living birds. A 

 full-grown male standing erect measures from six to seven feet 

 in height. The largest specimens weigh about three hundred 

 pounds. As, in the atmosphere which now surrounds the earth, 

 a creature of such size and weight cannot fly at all, the wings 

 of the ostrich have become atrophied, and the muscles of the 

 wings, which form the plump, meaty breasts of flying birds, are 

 entirely wanting. Not only have these muscles disappeared, but 

 the breastbone, which in flying birds is very large in proportion 

 to the rest of the skeleton, and has a deep, longitudinal keel in 

 the middle, is comparatively small in the ostrich and has no 

 keel at all. The ostrich, having no power of flight, is dependent 

 for safety upon its speed in running ; so its legs are long and 

 strong, and the muscles which move them are very large. In- 

 deed, there is very little meat on an ostrich except on the thighs. 

 It can run much faster than a horse. Because its foot must be 

 adapted to running at great speed, the ostrich has only two toes. 

 Its neck is very long and slender, and its head is very small and 

 flat. In such a head there is little room for brains. The ostrich 



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