172 NATURAL HISTORY. 



Fig. 138. Emu. 



very long bill, on which it sometimes rests as an old man 

 does upon his cane placed before him. Unlike the other 

 Cursores, it lives on insects and worms. Its habits are 

 nocturnal, and the natives hunt it by torchlight for the 

 sake of its skin, which is highly valued as a material for 

 the dresses of their chiefs. It is a curious fact that in 

 the volcanic sands of New Zealand there have been found 

 the bones of several large birds of this order now extinct. 

 One of them is supposed to have been fourteen feet in 

 height. 







Questions. What are the peculiarities of the Scansores ? What 

 are their families ? What is said of their differences ? What is said 

 of the Parrots ? What of the Toucans ? What of the Woodpeckers ? 

 Of the Cuckoos ? What are the characteristics of the Rasores ? 

 What is said of the analogies between them and the Ruminant Quad- 

 rupeds ? What are the families of the Rasores ? What are the char- 

 acteristics of the Pigeon family ? What is said of their digestive ap- 

 paratus ? What is said of the Pouter Pigeon ? What of the flocks 



