438 The Bird 
being of any use in supporting his great frame, they are 
so vestigial that they look exactly like black slate-pencils 
projecting in a row from the little fleshy flap which con- 
tains the evidence of his full-winged ancestors 
A full-grown ostrich was once imported to this country 
from Abyssinia. When the native keepers learned that the 
bird was to be sent away, they surreptitiously plucked the 
Fic. 268.—Wing of Cassowary, showing degenerate flight-feathers. 
poor creature, until but few feathers were left on its body. 
The bird was tame, and, by keeping its attention busy 
with a basket of carrots, I inserted a piece of white card- 
board beneath one of its skinny, denuded wings and se- 
cured an excellent photograph (Fig. 269). This clearly 
shows the black, curved claws on the first two fingers. 
In this same bird I noticed that occasionally the crooked 
forearm would be raised, the claw at the end of the wing 
