164 POPULAR OFFICIAL GUIDE. 
CASSOWARY. 
its metatarsus, is distinctly bluish, and dark. This is the 
species of the southern half of Africa, now so successfully 
farmed in Cape Colony for its feathers that the annual 
crop is said to yield about $5,000,000. And it is this species 
which is kept on the ostrich farms of California and 
Arizona. 
The North African, or Sudan Ostrich, (S. camelus), is the 
species first and longest known. Its neck, thighs and front 
metatarsal scales are of a decided pink color. Originally 
the range of this species extended from north Africa well 
into southwestern Asia, embracing Arabia, Syria and Meso- 
potamia. 
Generally speaking, the African Ostriches originally cov- 
ered all the open, sandy plains of Africa; but they never 
inhabited the regions of dense forests. To-day their total 
inhabited range is small, and rapidly becoming more so. It 
is highly probable that within the life period of many per- 
sons now living, wild Ostriches will totally disappear from 
the earth. 
The Common Rhea, or South American Ostrich, (Rhea 
americana), represents a group of ostriches much smaller 
than those of Africa, and found only on the open plans of 
Argentina and Patagonia, below the great equatorial forest 
belt. There are three species in the group. In general 
terms it may be stated that an adult Rhea is about two- 
thirds the size of an adult African ostrich. It is with great 
difficulty that these birds are reared to maturity in the 
United States, 
