THE AFRICAN OSTRICH (Struthio camelus) 



African Ostriches are the largest living members of the group 

 of Running Birds (Ratitffi), all of which are restricted to the 

 Southern Hemisphere. The South African variety represented 

 is the one domesticated for the sake of its feathers, and is some- 

 what smaller than a variety which lives farther north. African 

 Ostriches possess but two toes, and this reduction is related to 

 the specialization of the legs for the purpose of rapid locomotion. 

 The extinct ^pyornis, of which bones and eggs are found in 

 Madagascar, was an immense form related to the Ostrich, and 

 possibly the prototype of the " Roc " which figures largely in 

 Eastern tale and legend. 



