82 CLASS-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY. 



SECTION XVIII. 



5th Order — Long-legged Bikds : (Grallce.) 



§ 340. These birds are distinguished from the other 

 orders by their long stilt-like legs, long neck, and short 

 tail ; as the ostrich, crane, flamingo, and snipe. 



§ 341. The long-legged birds feed on reptiles, fish, 

 insects, and water-plants, and are mostly valuable on 

 account of the delicate flavor of their flesh and eggs. 



§ 342. The American Ostrich (Struthis Rhea) is four 

 feet high, has a goose-like head two inches and a half 

 long, a body covered with gray feathers, is without a tail, 

 weighs from 50 to 60 pounds, and is a native of Brazil and 

 Paraguay. 



\ 343. The young American Ostrich is easily tamed, 

 and kept in the court-yard with other fowls. Their flesh 

 is good as food ; as are also their eggs, of which one alone 

 weighs two pounds. Their skins are used for clothing, 

 and their feathers made into fly-brushes, or sold as orna- 

 ments to foreigners. 



\ 344. The Crane (Ardea Grus) is four feet high and 

 three and a half long ; bill four inches long, ash-colored ; 

 forehead, neck, throat, and wings black. It is a native 

 of the northern parts of Europe and Asia, and wanders in 

 the winter to the southern parts of Asia, Europe, and 

 Africa. 



\ 345. Cranes and Herons are easily tamed, and can 

 be kept in the barnyard, where they associate with the 

 different poultry, of which they become the leaders and 

 protectors. 



\ 346. The Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) is as tall 

 as a man ; body red, and as large as that of a goose ; bill 

 four inches long, and one and a half wide ; feet red, two 

 and a half feet long ; neck of the same length. It is 

 found between the tropics in both hemispheres. 



\ 347. They live in flocks on the banks of rivers and 

 lakes, where they feed on shell and other small fish and 

 their spawn. Their flesh tastes like that of partridges. 



