280 BIRDS 



fly. The male has black feathers on the body with white 

 plumes on the wings and tail, while the female is of a 

 sober, brownish gray. The eggs, which are five or six 

 inches in diameter the long way, are laid by the female in 

 a hole scraped out in the Band by the male. The male 

 does most of the incubating. 



Ostriches are now reared on farms in Africa, South 

 America, California, and Arizona. 



The so-called South American ostrich is not a true ostrich 

 but belongs to a different genus from the one above. Its 

 feathers are not so valuable, being used for rugs, dusters, etc. 



The cassowaries are large birds that, like the ostriches, 

 have flat breastbones and rudimentary wings. They hve 

 in the dense forests of Australia, New Guinea, and other 

 islands adjacent (Fig. 189). 



Loons, auks, and penguins. — These are all adapted to 

 an aquatic life. They are expert divers and swimmers, 

 and some of them are strong flyers. They are not at ease 

 on land, because the legs are set far back, which gives them 

 an awkward appearance, and ill adapts them to walking, 

 but enables them to develop great propelling power in water. 

 The feet are webbed. 



The common loon, often called the great northern diver, 

 is migratory, ranging south to the Gulf in winter, but going 

 north in spring, in pairs, to rear the young around some 

 body of fresh water. The eggs are usually laid in rude 

 nests among the reeds, close to the. water. Loons have a 

 pecuUar loud call, hence the expression, "yelling like a loon." 



The great auk was the only bird in North America in- 

 capable of flight. It resembled the penguins in this re- 

 spect, and nested on the islands in the North Atlantic. It 

 is now extinct, having become so within the last generation. . 



