OSTRICHES. 



557 



skin is covered with coarse plumage of a mottled dark brown and yellowish white 

 hue, the neck being completely bare. In the adult female the colour changes to 

 a nearly uniform dusky grey ; but in the male, while the body-feathers are black, 

 the tail-feathers and quills of the wing are pure glistening white ; the neck in 

 both sexes being clothed with short down. A peculiarity of the feathers of the 

 wings and tail is that their two webs are of equal width. The young, like 

 those of all the other members of the group, are active as soon as hatched; and 

 the eggs are polished and pale yellowish white in colour; those from North 



OSTRICHES FEEDING. 



Africa being traversed by a number of minute punctures, while those from the 

 Cape are smoother. Finally, the male is far superior in size to his partner. 



There is still some uncertainty whether there is more than a single species 

 of ostrich, although it is well known that the kind inhabiting Somaliland and East 

 Africa differs from the more ordinary type, which is now confined to Africa, 

 Arabia, Syria, and Mesopotamia. In the latter {Struthio camelus) the colour of 

 the naked skin of the neck and thighs is reddish ; whereas in the Somali ostrich 

 (S. molyhdophanes) it is bluish, and there is a conspicuous red patch on the front 

 of the metatarsus. It is, however, probable that these slight variations indicate 

 local races rather than distinct species. In regard to the dimensions attained by 

 ostriches, it may be mentioned that an unusually fine male from the Niger basin, 



