ORNITHOLOGY. 



the wings are adorned by loose flexible plumes, and though 

 of small extent, are still sufficient to afford effectual aid in 

 running. The toes, at least externally, are only two in 

 number. 



The only known species is the ostrich commonly so 

 called (Struthio camelus, Linn., Plate CCCXCIX. fig. 

 5), a bird which forms one of the most remarkable cha- 

 racters in the Ornithology of Africa, to which country it 

 is believed to be almost entirely peculiar. It presents the 

 tallest, and in many other respects the most singular ex- 

 ample of the feathered race. It measures from six to seven 

 feet in height ; its head is very flat, extremely small, and 

 almost naked; as is also the upper portion of the neck, 

 which is very slender, and nearly three feet long. The 

 general plumage of the male is black, varied with white 

 and gray, the fine full feathers of the wings and tail being 

 either black or white. Our engraving will best explain its 

 outer aspect. The female is brown or ashy-gray upon the 

 body ; the young are likewise of the latter hue, and have 

 at first the head and neck densely clothed. The ostrich 

 inhabits the deserts of Arabia, and a vast extent of open 

 sandy plains in Africa, from Barbary to the Cape of Good 

 Hope. Being consequently native to one of the most an- 

 ciently peopled countries of the earth, it has excited the 

 attention of mankind from the remotest periods of anti- 

 quity. It is frequently mentioned in the book of Job, and 

 in other portions of the Old Testament. Herodotus among 

 the early Greek writers was well acquainted with its his- 

 tory and appearance, and in after times it was not only 

 frequently exhibited by the Romans in their games, but 

 the brains of hundreds at a time were scooped out as a 

 choice delicacy for the luxurious table of Heliogabalus. 



The ostrich is gregarious and polygamous. The female 

 deposits her eggs, weighing nearly three pounds, in the 

 sand. These, in equatorial regions, are hatched by the 

 heat of the sun, with little or no attention on the part of 

 the mother ; but on either side of the tropics are said to 

 be incubated in the usual fashion. This gigantic bird 

 feeds naturally on seeds and herbage ; but its taste is so 

 obtuse, and its swallowing propensities so universal, that 

 there are few substances, however incongruous or indi- 

 gestible, which it declines. It is said by some to be the 

 swiftest of all running creatures, and Adanson seemed sa- 

 tisfied that those he saw at Podor, a French factory on 

 the southern side of the Niger, would have distanced the 

 fleetest race-horse that was ever bred in England. There 

 is no doubt that the peculiar construction of birds, in rela- 

 tion both to the respiratory and circulating systems, is 

 such as to admit of their keeping in much better wind 

 than is possible for any quadruped ; and when, as in the 

 case of the species in question, great muscular power is 

 superadded, the natural result must be prodigious swift- 

 ness. 



The nandou or American ostrich now forms the genus 

 Rhea, of which it is the sole species, characterized by 

 having three toes, the wings terminated by a little spur, 

 and the tail wanting. It is not above half the size of an 

 ostrich, of a whitish-gray, lead coloured on the back, the 

 head covered with close-set blackish feathers, almost as 

 stiff as hair. This bird inhabits the pampas of Paraguay, 

 in troops of a few dozen, and extends almost as far south 

 as the Straits of Magellan. It is a gentle, innocent crea- 

 ture, of herbivorous habits, easily tamed if taken young, 

 and laying an enormous number of eggs. As several fe- 

 males sometimes sit together, it is probable that the num- 

 ber of seventy or eighty eggs, alleged to have been found 

 in a single nest, are not the produce of one bird, but ra- 



ther the result of a kind of joint-stock incubating com- 

 pany. Its flesh is eaten by the Indians, and its feathers, 

 from their peculiar structure, make very good hair-brooms. 



In the genus Casuarius, the wings are still shorter than 

 in either of the preceding, and seem of no use even in run- 

 ning. They consist, in fact, merely of a few hard, stiff, 

 sharp-pointed, barbless shafts. The head is surmounted by 

 a bony crest, and the bill is laterally compressed (see Plate 

 CCCXCIX. fig. 2). The sole species is the common cas- 

 suary ( C. galeatus, Vieil.), a bird first imported to Europe 

 by the Dutch in 1597. Like the rest of its tribe, it is ex- 

 tremely large, measuring about five feet in height. Its plu- 

 mage is very peculiar, being long, narrow, decomposed, and 

 hair-like, and the plumule, or short inner feather (which 

 exists in almost all birds except pigeons), is of nearly equal 

 length with the outer portion, so that an appearance is pro- 

 duced of there being a double feather to each quill. The 

 prevailing colour is blackish. The cassuary inhabits the 

 Moluccas, Ceram, Bourou, and especially New Guinea. 

 These birds usually live in pairs, and the female lays three 

 eggs, of a greenish hue, and punctured surface. They run 

 with great swiftness, and defend themselves from dogs and 

 other animals, by kicking like horses. The inner claw is 

 very large and strong. 



The emeu, or New Holland cassuary, forms the genus 

 Dromecius of Vieillot. The bill is much depressed, the 

 head feathered, without osseous crest, the throat naked. 

 The claws are of nearly equal length. The general co- 

 lour is dull brown mottled with dingy gray ; the young 

 are striped with black. The plumule is equally extended 

 as in the preceding species. (See Plate CCCXCIX. fig. 

 6.) Next to the ostrich, the emeu is the tallest bird we 

 know. Its flesh affords admirable eating, — " truly exqui- 

 site,'' says Peron, " and intermediate, as it were, between 

 that of a turkey and a sucking pig." Mr Cunningham com- 

 pares it to beef, which is also an excellent thing. This 

 bird is widely spread over the southern parts of New Hol- 

 land and the adjacent islands. It is tamed with great ease, 

 and of late years has frequently bred in Britain. 



In the genus Apteryx of Shaw, 1 the bill is slender and 

 of considerable length, the legs short, with three anterior 

 toes, and a posterior spur to represent the hallux. The 

 wings are rudimentary. The only known species was ob- 

 tained a good many years ago on the south coast of New 

 Zealand, by Captain Barclay of the ship Providence, and 

 was presented by him to Dr Shaw. It equals a goose in 

 size. This bird, of which the history was long obscure, 

 has been recently received in London. 2 



The last ornithological form to which we shall allude 

 under our present tribe is the mysterious Dodo (Didus 

 ineptus), a bird which some regard as an extinct, othprs 

 as a fabulous, species. In neither supposition would it fall 

 within the limits of our present treatise, which seeks to 

 present a sketch, however imperfect, of living nature ; and 

 we shall therefore not occupy our narrow limits by a sub- 

 ject of " doubtful disputation," on which we cannot our- 

 selves throw any light, having neither been in the Mauri- 

 tius, nor studied the works of Clusius and the early Dutch 

 navigators. 3 



Tribe 2d. — Pressirostres. 



This tribe consists of the bustards, plovers, and other 

 species which, like all the preceding, either want the hind 

 toe, or have it so short as not to touch the ground. The 

 bill is of medium size, but of sufficient strength to pierce 

 the ground in search of worms and insects, the feebler 



Gralla^ 

 tores. 



1 Naturalist's Miscellany, pi. 1057-8. s Yarrell, in Zool. Trans, i. pi. 10. 



3 Whoever desires it, will find a suramarv view of authorities regarding the dodo, by Mr T. S. Duncan, in the Zoological Journal, 

 io. xii. p. 554 



