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THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 



superfluous in these, which never raise themselves above 

 the surface of the ground. Their food is almost entirely 

 vegetable, and consists of seeds and fruits, or, rarely, of 

 eggs and worms. Between the crop, which is of enormous 

 size, and the gizzard, which varies in thickness and power, 

 several of them are furnished with an additional ventricle, 

 analogous to the structure which prevails in Ruminating 

 Quadrupeds. They occupy a station in some degree in- 

 termediate between the Rasorial Birds and the Waders, 

 approaching the latter in many particulars of their out- 

 ward form, but much more closely connected with the 

 former in their internal structure, in their food, and in 

 their habits. 



Of the differential characters which give to the Ostrich 

 the rank of a genus, the most important is founded on the 

 structure of its feet, which have only two toes, both di- 

 rected forwards, and connected at their base bj' a strong 

 membrane; the internal being considerably larger than the 

 external, and being furnished with a thick hoof-like claw, 

 which is wanting in the latter. The legs are covered with 

 a rut^n-ed skin, reticulated in such a manner as to present 

 the appearance 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 plumeless shafts, resembling the quills of a Por- 

 cupine. 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 obtain a 

 distinct view of the same object at the same time. They 

 bear a remarkable similarity to the eyes of mammiferous 

 quadrupeds, and have frequently been compared to those 

 of man, which they also resemble in the breadth and mo- 

 bility 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 protu- 

 berance. 



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 the body, are clothed with 



broad and short feathers of a deep black, intermingled with 

 a few others, which are nearly white, and are barely visi- 

 ble, except when the plumage is ruffled. In the female, 

 the general colour of the feathers is of a greyisn, or ashy- 

 brown, slightly fringed with white. In both sexes the 

 large plumes of the wings and tail are beautilully white. 

 The bill is of the colour of horn, becoming blackish towards 

 the point. The iris is deep hazel. On the head and neck 

 the hairy dovvn is clear white. In the young bird these 

 parts, as well as the muscles of the legs, are covered like 

 the rest of the body, with ash-coloured feathers, which fall 

 off after the first year, and are not again produced. 



The character of the Ostrich, like that of other granivo- 

 rous birds, is extremely mild. It never makes use of its 

 great muscular power to attack, and rarely even in its own 

 defence. It generally has recourse to flight, as its most 

 effectual security against danger; and were its intelligence 

 equal to its velocity, this resource would seldom fail of 

 success. The chase of these birds is accounted one of the 

 most skilful and difficult exercises both for the Arab and 

 his horse, requiring at once the most unwearied patience 

 and the most reckless impetuosity. The former is abso- 

 lutely necessary, in order to keep them within sight, and 

 to watch their motions as they wheel round in a circle of 

 greater or less extent, and the latter to seize the favourable 

 opportunity of dashing down upon them in their course, 

 and disabling them, which is generally effected by means 

 of a stick thrown with dexterity between their legs. A 

 chase of this kind will frequently last from eight to ten 

 hours. When taken, they evince no ill humour, and after 

 a time become in some degree docile, suffering themselves 

 to be mounted and ridden like horses. M. Adamson, who 

 had several times witnessed the spectacle in Senegal, de- 

 clares, that even when mounted by two men, they outstrip- 

 ped in speed an excellent English horse. In running they 

 always expand their wings, not, as has been erroneously 

 imagined, to catch the wind in order to assist them in their 

 flight, for they do it indifferently, whether running with 

 or against the wind, but, in all probability, to counterba- 

 lance their great height by the extension of these lateral 

 appendages. 



Their natural food consists entirely of vegetable sub- 

 stances, and more especially of seeds and the various kinds 

 of grain, in pursuit of which they frequently commit the 

 greatest devastation among the crops in cultivated countries. 

 But so obtuse is the sense of taste in this bird, that it 

 swallows with the utmost indifference, sometimes even 

 with greediness, whatever comes in its way, whether of 

 animal or mineral origin, partly for the purpose, as it 

 should seem, of distending its stomach, and partly also to 

 assist, like the gravel in the crops of our common poultry, 



