162 POPULAR OFFICIAL GUIDE. 



THE OSTRICH HOUSE, No. 43. 



This entire collection presented by the late Charles T. Barney. 



Originally it was our intention to devote this fine build- 

 ing solely to the great "running birds," — Ostriches, Rheas, 

 Emeus and Cassowaries ; but the pressure for space has been 

 so great that this intention never has been carried into 

 effect, and we fear it never will be. There are so many 

 cranes, seriemas, tropical vultures and other large birds 

 which appeal for space in these very pleasant and health- 

 ful quarters, Ave have felt compelled to set our original plan 

 half at naught. It seems probable that some of the feath- 

 ered interlopers now in the Ostrich House will remain there, 

 indefinitely — or at least until we erect a Crane Aviary. 



Architecturally, the Ostrich House is the counterpart of 

 the Small-Mammal House, the two being identical in size 

 and form, and connected by a handsome pavilion. Each 

 building is 170 feet long, and 54 feet wide. The Ostrich 

 House contains 13 cages, each 10x12 feet, by 8 feet in height. 

 A flood of warm light pours through a glass roof into these 

 cages, and makes them as light as the yards without. It is 

 no wonder that birds thrive in this building. Movable par- 

 titions were provided, so that a few of the cages might be 

 subdivided whenever necessary. This provision has proven 

 of much practical value. 



Each interior cage connects with a spacious outside yard, 

 in which the big birds spend the warm months. The yards 

 are enclosed by wire fences, and to the eye of the visitor 

 they are open from three directions. 



The members of the Subclass Ratitae, — once called the 

 Cursores, or the "running birds," — are the present-day 

 giants of the avian world. "We have reason to be glad that 

 all these splendid birds did not disappear from the earth 

 before ornithology took form as a science. Undoubtedly, 

 they mark the end of the line of birds of their kind, for the 

 far-reaching destructiveness of civilized man has already 

 put a period to the natural evolution of animal life. To-day, 

 the preservers of wild life are engaged in a hand-to-hand 

 struggle with the annihilators, over the preservation of a 

 remnant for those who come after us. 



The African Ostriches are now very prominently in the 

 public eye, not because of their relationship to the Dinornis 

 and Aepyornis of the past, but by reason of the value of 



