RATIT^ 



279 



localities, where they are breeding and becoming of much value 

 for their plumes. 



The ostrich is the largest of living birds (Fig. 227). It may 

 attain to a height of 6 or 8 feet, and may easily reach, with 

 outstretched neck, a height of 10 feet. It weighs from 375 to 

 450 pounds. It is a rapid runner, a single stride is said to 



^ 





iifS ,. 1 •=*•'- "i 



Fig. 227. — Ostrich twenty-six months old. (Year-book U. S. Dept. Agri- 



cul., 1905.) 



cover 25 feet or more.^ It uses its two-toed feet in defense and 

 its kick is dangerous. "The cry is said to be hoarse and mourn- 

 ful, resembling the roar of a lion or the lowing of an ox." The 

 eggs are 5 or 6 inches in length, and one ostrich egg equals a 

 score of common hen eggs. They are laid in a hollow nest in 

 1 Evans, " Birds," p. 28. 



