BIRDS. 



31 



prising peculiarity. At the top of the breast, under the skin, 

 the fat is two inches thick ; and on the fore part of the belly it 

 is as hard as suet, and about two inches and a half thick in some 

 places. It has two distinct stomachs. The first, which is lower- 

 most, in its natural situation somewhat resembles the crop in 

 otlier birds ; but it is considerably larger than the other stomach, 

 and is furnished with strong muscular fibres, as well circular as 

 longitudinal. The second stomach, or gizzard, has outwardly 

 the shape of the stomach of a man ; and, upon opening, is always 

 found filled with a variety of discordant substances ; hay, grass, 

 barley, beans, bones, and stones, some of which exceed in size a 

 pullet's egg. The kidneys are eight inches long and two broad, 

 and differ from those bf other birds in not being divided into 

 lobes. The heart and lungs are separated by a midriff, as in 

 quadrupeds', and the parts of generation also bear a very strong 

 resemblance and analogy. 



Such is the structure of this animal, forming the shade that 



iniites birds and quadrupeds ; and from this structure its habits 



and manners are entirely peculiar. It is a native only of the 



torrid regions of Africa, and has long been celebrated by those 



who have had occasion to mention the animals of that region. 



Its flesh is proscribed in scripture as unfit to be eaten ; and most 



of the ancient writers describe it as well kno\\ai in their times. 



Like the race of the elephant, it is transmitted down without 



mixture ; and has never been known to breed out of that countiy 



which first produced it. It seems formed to live among the 



sandy and burning deserts of the torrid zone ; and, as in some 



measure it owes its birth to their genial influence, so it seldom 



migrates into tracts more mild or more fertile. As that is the 



peculiar country of the elephant, the rhinoceros, and camel, so it 



may readily be supposed capable of affording a retreat to the 



ostrich. They inhabit, from preference, the most solitary and 



horrid deserts, where there are few vegetables to clothe the 



surface of the earth, and where the rain never comes to refresh it. 



The Arabians assert that the ostrich never drinks ; and the 



place of its habitation seems to confirm the assertion. In these 



formidable regions, ostriches are seen in lai-ge flocks, which to 



the distant spectator appear like a regiment of cavalry, and have 



often alarmed a whole caravan. There is no desert, how barren 



soever, but what is capable of supplying these animals with pro 



