UIKUS. 



?D 



CHAP. IV. 



THE OSTRICH. 



In beginning with the feathered tribe, the first animal that ol- 

 f.^rs seems to unite the class of quadrupeds and of birds in itsell. 

 While it has the general outline and properties of a bird, yet it 

 retains many of the marks of the quadruped. In appearance the 

 ostnch resembles the camel, and is almost as tall ; it is covered 

 with a plumage that resembles hair much more nearly than 

 feathers, and its internal parts bear as near a similitude 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. Travellers 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 legs and thighs resemble those of a hen ; 

 though the whole appearance bears a strong resemblance to thai 

 of a camel. But to be more particular : it is usually seven feet 

 high from the top of the head to the ground ; but from the back 

 it is only four ; so that the head and neck are above three feet 

 long. From the top of the head to the rump, when the neck is 

 stretched out in a right line, it is six feet long, and the tail is 

 about a foot more. One of the wings, without the feathers, is a 

 foot and a half ; and being stretched out, with the feathers, is 

 three feet. 



The plumage is much alike in all ; that is, generally black ana 

 white ; though some of them are said to be gray. The greatest 

 feathers are at the extremities of the wings and tail, and the largest 

 are generally white. The next row is black and white ; and of the 

 small feathers, on the back and belly, some are white and others 

 black. There are no feathers on the sides, nor yet on the thighs, 

 nor under the wings. The lower part of the neck, about half way, 

 is covered with still smaller feathers than those on the belly and 

 back ; and those, like the former, also are of different colours. 



All these feathers are of the same kind, and peculiar to the 05- 



c3 



