THE OSTRICH. 51 



with a thick hoof-hke claw, which is wanting in the 

 latter. The legs are covered with a rugged skin, 

 reticulated in such a manner as to present the appear- 

 ance of large scales : they are completely naked 

 throughout, even in the muscular part, which, like the 

 under surface of the wings, is bare of feathers, and 

 exhibits a flesh-coloured tinge. The wings are each of 

 them armed with two pluraeless shafts, resembling the 

 quills of a Porcupine. Instead of quill-feathers they 

 are ornamented with gracefully undulating plumes, and 

 similar appendages terminate the tail. The long neck 

 is covered on its upper half with a thin down, through 

 which the colour of the skin is distinctly visible. The 

 head is small in proportion to the magnitude of the 

 bird, and is invested with the same kind of covering 

 as the neck, except on its upper surface, which is bald 

 and callous. The ears are naked on the outside and 

 hairy within ; the eyes are large and brilliant, and so 

 prominently placed as to enable both to obtam a 

 distinct view of the same object at the same time. 

 They bear a remarkable similarity to the eyes of mam- 

 miferous quadrupeds, and have frequently been com- 

 pared to those of man, which they also resemble in 

 the breadth and mobility of their upper lids, and in 

 the lashes by which these organs are fringed. The 

 beak is short, straight, broad at the base, and rounded 

 at the point, flattened from above downwards, extremely 

 strong, and opening with a wide gape. The nostrils 

 are seated near the base of the upper mandible, and 

 are partly closed by a cartilaginous protuberance. 



The African Ostrich is the only species to which the 

 foregoing characters are applicable. It is generally 

 from six to eight feet in height. The lower part of 

 the neck of the male, and the whole of its body, are 

 clothed with broad and short feathers of a deep black, 



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