4<0 THE OSTRICH. 



ciently distinguishable from the rest ; and, from 

 their incapacity of flying, lead a life a good deal 

 differing from the rest of the feathered creation. 

 The birds I mean are the Ostrich, the Cassowary, 

 the Emu, the Dodo, and the Solitaire. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE OSTRICH. 



.-. f%::. 



IN beginning with the feathered tribe, the first 

 animal that offers seems to unite the class of quad- 

 rupeds and of birds in itself. While it has the 

 general outline and properties of a bird, yet it 

 retains many of the marks of the quadruped. In 

 appearance the ostrich resembles the camel, and 

 is almost as tall ; it is covered with a plumage 

 that resembles hair much more nearly than fea- 

 thers, and its internal parts bear as near a simi- 

 litude to those of the quadruped as of the bird 

 creation. It may be considered, therefore, as an 

 animal made to fill up that chasm in nature which 

 separates one class of beings from another. 



The ostrich is the largest of all birds. Tra- 

 vellers affirm that they are seen as tall as a man 

 on horseback ; and even some of those that have 

 been brought into England were above seven 

 feet high. The head and bill somewhat resemble 

 those of a duck ; and the neck may be likened to 

 that of a swan, but that it is much longer ; the 



