2S0 BIRDS 



fly. The male has black featliers on tlie Ijody with white 

 plumes on tlie wngs and tail, while the female is of a 

 sober, brownish gray. Tlie eggs, wliich are five or six 

 inches in (Uameter the long way, are laid by the female in 

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

 does most of the incul)ating. 



Ostriclies are now reared on farms in Africa, South 

 Ameiica, California, and Arizona. 



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

 but belongs to a dilfeient genus from the one alxjve. Its 

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



The cassowaries are large bii'ds that, like the ostriches, 

 have flat lireastbones and rudimentary wings. They Hve 

 in the (k'use forests of Australia, New Guinea, and other 

 islands adjacent (Fig. ISO). 



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

 an aquatic life. They ai'e expert divers and svimmers, 

 and some of tliem are strimg flyei's. Tliey ai'e not at ease 

 on land, because the legs are set far l)ack, which gives tlrem 

 an awkward appearance, and ill aikipits tlieiu to walking, 

 but enables them to (kweloj) great ])i'oi)clling power in water. 

 The feet ai-e weldjed. 



The common loon, often called the gi'oat northern diver, 

 is migratoiy, i-aiiging south to the (lulf in A\inter, Init going 

 north in s[)iing, in pairs, to I'car the young around some 

 body of fresh ^^'atei-. The eggs are usually laid in I'ude 

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

 [X'culiar loud call, hence the exjiression, "yelling like a, loon." 



Th(^ great auk was tlu^ only bii'd in Noi'th America in- 

 capable of fliglil. It resembled llie penguins in this re- 

 spect, and nesled on 1lie islands in the Noidh Atlantic. Tt 

 is iKjw extinct, lia.ving become so within the last generation. 



