206 THE OSTRICH. 



fact, that the barbulcs do not adhere together, as is 

 the case with almost all other birds. 



No sooner does the ostrich begin to walk, than 

 wo are struck with the suppleness of his body; his 

 long neck balances itself gracefully, his trunk takes 

 a kind of pitching motion, his stumps of wings 

 open as if to catch the wind; and the ease of his 

 march, the elasticity of his step, the extent and 

 quickness of his strides, soon teach us that he is as 

 generously endowed as a terrestrial, as he is deprived 

 as an aerial animal. Besides, every one knows that 

 the ostrich is one of the swiftest pedestrians that 

 exist, perhaps the swiftest, for if, when he is hunted, 

 he had sense enough to direct his flight in a straight 

 line, the best horse would be incapable of running 

 him down. 



II. 



ONE can understand that such a singular animal has 

 given rise to many fables. " There is scarcely any 

 subject of natural history about which more absurdities 

 have been spoken," writes Buffon. The Arabs believe 

 the ostrich to be the issue of a camel and a bird ; 

 Suidas gave him the neck and feet of a donkey; 

 G. Warren made an aquatic bird of him ; others 

 assure us that he never drinks. Leon L'Africain 



