CURSORIAL BIRDS 205 



The Willow Grouse {Lagopus lagopus) is similar to the ptarmigan, 

 but has a stouter beak and a longer wing, and a different colour in 

 summer ; in winter it turns white, like the ptarmigan. It is circumpolar 

 in range, but is not found in Britain, the Red Grouse (L. scoticus) being 

 the British form of it. The red grouse does not turn white in winter, and 

 is the only species of game-bird peculiar to the British Islands. 



ORDER IX. : CURSORIAL BIRDS (CURSORES). 



Birds incapable of flight, without flight or tail feathers or sternal 

 crest, but provided with powerful feet adapted for running. Young 

 "precocious." 



The African Ostrich (Struthio camelus). 

 (Height up to nearly 8 feet.) 



A. Its Home. 



The home of this bird is on the immense desert plains of Africa and 

 Western Asia, though, in districts entirely devoid of vegetation, it can 

 no more exist than any other animal. Prom the earliest times it has 

 been incessantly pursued for the sake of the magnificent feathers of its 

 wings and tail. As in consequence of this persecution the bird was 

 steadily becoming rarer, it became at last necessary to domesticate . it. 

 In South Africa especially large ostrich-farms have been established 

 in recent years. The full-grown birds have their feathers clipped off 

 with shears about every eight months, those of the first quality realizing 

 on the spot as much as £25 the pound avoirdupois. 



B. A Denizen of the Desert. 



Like the camel, the ostrich is a true denizen of the desert. (Compare 

 it with camel.) 



1. Its food consists of desert plants and their seeds, insects, and other 

 small animals. With its food it takes in stones, which in the gizzard 

 (see pigeon) assist in crushing up hard-shelled seeds. As, however, the 

 places which it frequents are usually poor in food- stuffs, the bird, in 

 order to obtain sufficient nourishment, is obliged daily to rove over a 

 great deal of ground. In order to reach water for drinking purposes, 

 which the bird likes to visit daily, it has usually to travel a considerable 

 distance. And if the spring dries up, and its own domain ceases to 

 supply it with a sufficient, amount of food, the bird is compelled to 



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