412 



ZOOLOGY 



flat breast bone {i.e., no keel) and with all the organs of flight 

 much reduced. The barbs of the wing and tail feathers are not 

 held together by barbules, thus producing plumes. 



The Ratitas are the lowest forms of living birds and include 

 the ostriches, emus, cassowaries, in all of which the wings are 

 reduced, and the Apteryx or wingless bird of New Zealand (Fig. 

 210) in which they are very rudimentary. The ostrich (Fig. 



Fig. 211. 



■->T^.,^^65Sja!K.», •'_^.- 



FlG. 211. Ostrich {Strulhio). From Wood's Natural History. 



Questions on the figure. — Which of the types of feathers of ordinary birds 

 become the plumes in the ostrich? What is the real size of the ostrich? 



211) is the largest and most powerful of living birds. Ostriches 

 are somewhat gregarious, and frequent regions more or less 

 desert. At mating time they unite in pairs, the male assisting 

 in incubating the eggs, which are laid in holes in the sand„ 

 Ostrich culture is an important industry in South Africa and 



