AVES—OSTRICH. 611 
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. Some reach the height 
of nine feet. 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 
heing stretched out, with the feathers, is three feet. 
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The plumage is much alike in all; that is, generally black and 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 
