OSTRICH. 609 



The fair induction appears to be, that the same instinct which 

 prompts the cuckoo to provide herself with a nest, and, wherever 

 it is attainable, through the labour of some other bird, prompts 

 her, where this is not attainable, to build and incubate for herself. 

 We hear of numerous instances of a similar adaptation. Thus the 

 ostrich, in the desert of Arabia, abandons her eggs after she has 

 deposited them in the sand, and entrusts them to the heat of the 

 sun, which is sufficient for their maturity : but in Senegal, where 

 the heat is somewhat less, and not perfectly adequate, she sits upon 

 them through the night, though she relinquishes them in the day ; 

 and at the Cape of Good Hope, where there is less heat still, she 

 sits upon them, like other birds, both day and night. 



[Editor. 



SECTION VII. 



Ostrich. Emen or Cassowary. 

 Struthio. Lk*n. 

 The genus struthio contains four species, all of them possessing 

 great bulk and power, and entitled to a distinct notice. They are 

 as follows : 



1. Ostrich, 

 Struthio-camelus Ll nn. 

 This species is characterised by having only two toes to the foot. 

 Though the power of flying may be considered as the distinguished 

 attribute of the feathered tribes in general, yet there are some 

 particular families to which nature has denied that endowment ; 

 while she has granted it to a few of the quadrupeds, and even of 

 fishes. It is thus that she displays the extent of her power, by 

 the variety of her productions, and disdains to be confined within 

 the narrow limits prescribed to her by the systems of philosophers. 

 As we descend from the class of quadrupeds to contemplate that of 

 birds, we find the connecting links, which unite these two orders 

 into one great chain, very short, and almost imperceptible ; for, 

 while the flying-squirrel, the bat, and some of the inferior quadru- 

 peds, are invested with the power of flight, and with other properties 

 of birds, the ostrich, dodo, and cassowary, are, by their enormous 

 size, confined to the ground, and indicate, by their habits, a near 

 affinity to the four-footed animals. Thus, as we descend from 

 those swift and slender birds, which are destined to move in the 

 higher regions of the air, we find them growing, by gradual and 

 vol. v, 2r 



