NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 145 



The North African, or Sudan Ostrich, {S. camelus) , is the 

 species first and longest known. Its necls;, 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 plains 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. 



The Common Emeu, {Dromaeus novae-hollandiae), of Aus- 

 tralia, is the neighbor of the kangaroo and wallaby, and in 

 form is as odd as are the majority of the birds and mammals 

 of that continent of strange creatures. Its body suggests a 

 pile of gray-brown hay elevated on stilts, to one end of 

 "which a hay-covered neck and head have been attached. The 

 bird-lover should make much of this creature, for in its 

 home country it has been almost exterminated. Fortu- 

 nately, in climates reasonably well suited to it — but not in 

 or near New York — it is possible to breed this bird in cap- 

 tivity. In size the emeu is next to the African ostrich. 



The Ceram Cassowary, (Casuarius casuarius), of the 

 Island of Ceram, Malay Archipelago, represents a group 

 which contains a number of well-defined species which are 

 scattered through the northern cape of Australia, New 

 Guinea, the Aru Islands, Ceram, and other islands of Malay- 

 ana east of Celebes. They are all distinguished by their 

 glossy purple or black body plumage — which looks far more 

 like coarse hair than like feathers — their huge legs, and 

 their helmeted heads. The differences between species are 

 based chiefly upon the bright orange red and purple colors 

 of their upper necks and wattles. 



In size the Cassowaries are all of them smaller than the 



