COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 869 



said to lay their eggs in the same nest, and leave 

 them to he hatched hy the male. Above the male 

 ostrich are the two species of cassowary. That 

 of Asia has a prominence on the head, and the 

 naked skin of its neck is tinted during life with 

 red and blue ; it feeds on fruit and eggs, but not 

 on grains. The second species comesfrom New- 

 Holland, and is as rapid in its course as the fleetest 

 greyhound ; its feathers are used for ornamental 

 purposes, and its flesh is good food. 



The bustards (otis y Lin.) fill the thirty-seventh 

 case. ^Ve have nine species ; three of which 

 have not yet been described. That of Europe 

 lives in large plains, and builds its nests in the 

 corn ; it flies but little, and generally uses its 

 wings only to accelerate its course. The male, 

 which is double the size of the female, is very 

 rare, and is the largest of European birds. The 

 specimen in the Museum was presented by 

 Yiscount de Riocour. Among the foreign species 

 we may cite the houbara, brought from Barbary 

 by M. Desfontaines, remarkable for the cloak of 

 long feathers which adorns its neck. Next comes 

 the cariama of Brazil, described by M. Geoffroy 

 Saint-Hilaire in the Annals of the Museum; its 

 flesh being esteemed, it has been domesticated. 



The grallce, in the following cases, have 

 been called shore-birds, on account of their ha- 



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