ORDER GRALL.E. 



295 



The Ostriches. Struthio. Lin. 



Whose wings, covered with loose and flexible feathers, 

 are nevertheless long enough for the purpose of 

 accelerating their running. Every one knows the 

 elegance of the bunch formed by these plumes, with 

 slender stems, and the barbs, although furnished with 

 beardlet, not at all tied together, as is commonly the 

 case in most birds. The bill of the ostrich is de- 

 pressed horizontally, of moderate length, blunt at 

 the end ; their tongue is short, and crescent-shaped 

 at the end ; the eye is large, and the lid furnished 

 with eyelashes ; their legs and tarsi are very 

 elevated. They have an enormous crop, with a 

 considerable vesicle between the crop and the giz- 

 zard; the intestines are voluminous, the coeca 

 Jong, and a vast receptacle, in which the urine 

 accumulates as in a bladder ; hence they are the 

 only birds which urine ; the genitals are very large, 

 and are frequently shown externally. 



We should consult on the genito-urinary organs of 

 birds, and especially on those of the ostrich, the 

 Memoire of M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, Mem. du Mus. 



t. XV. 



Only two species are known, of which as many 

 genera might be formed. 



Tlie Black Ostrich. Lath. Struthio Camelus, Lin. 

 Enl. 457 See the excellent figure drawn by Mare- 



