260 
YERTEBRATA. 
skeleton ; and the sternum is reduced to a simple convex shield, without any trace of the keel, 
which in other birds gives attachment to the powerful pectoral muscles. To compensate for this 
deficiency, however, the great size and muscularity of the legs render the pace of these birds in 
running exceedingly swift. These curious adaptations afford striking illustrations of the devising 
Wisdom and Sagacity, as well as the care and attention, which presided over the Creation of ani- 
mals — looking into every detail of structure, and providing for each condition and every want and 
necessity, of every species — the smallest as well as the greatest. The pelvis in these birds is of 
large size, and the two sides of the arch unite at the pubis, which is not the case in any other 
species. The anterior toes are strong, either two or three in number, and terminated by strong 
nails. The hinder toe is entirely wanting, except in the genus Apteryx, in which this organ is 
present in a rudimentary condition. The plumage is of a very peculiar character, the barbs of 
the feathers being always separate, and often exhibiting a close resemblance to hairs. The bill is 
usually rather short, depressed, and somewhat triangular ; but in the Apteryx it is elongated and 
cylindrical, with the nostrils placed at the tip. The head and neck are usually naked, or covered 
only with a short, downy plumage ; the head is sometimes furnished with a horny crest, and the 
neck with fleshy wattles. 
THE STRUTHIONID^. 
This family includes the Ostriches, the largest of known birds : in these the bill is broad, de- 
pressed, and triangular, with the apex obtuse, and the nostrils placed in a groove ; the hinder 
toe is entirely deficient. The legs are very long, especially the tarsi, which are covered with 
scales. The plumage varies considerably in its texture in the difi"erent species, all of which frequent 
the desert plains of the countries inhabited by them. 
Genus STRUTHIO : StrutMo.—Oi this there is a single species, the Ostrich— TAar Echjan- 
mel, or Camel-Bird, of the Orientals, so called from its obvious resemblance to the camel ; the 
Struzzolo of the Italians, Strauss of the Germans, and Autruche of the French — S. camelus, the 
largest of all existing birds. It inhabits the sandy deserts of tropical Africa, and has been cele- 
brated since the most remote antiquity.* It measures from six to eight feet in height; its feet 
consist only of two toes ; its head and neck are nearly naked ; the general plumage is very lax, 
and the quill-feathers of the wings and tail are particularly remarkable for the length of their 
barbs, which, although furnished with barbules, are completely separate from each other ; these 
are the well-known ostrich-feathers, which, from their elegance, are so highly prized as ornaments. 
The ostriches live together in small flocks, feeding upon grass, grain, the tops of plants, &c,; like 
the gallinaceous birds, which they resemble in their food, they have an enormous crop and a strong 
gizzard. In confinement, however, they appear to devour indiscriminately almost any thing that 
comes in their way, as they have been frequently known to pick up and swallow pieces of leather, 
wood, stones, and even metal. Valisnieri found in the stomach of one of these birds a farrago of 
grass, nuts, cords, stones, glass, brass, iron, tin, copper, lead, and wood, and among the stones one 
weighing over a pound. An ostrich in the London Zoological Gardens was deformed and after- 
ward died from swallowing part of a parasol. These hard substances are probably taken to assist 
the action of the gizzard. 
The African ostrich is polygamous, the male usually associating with from two to six females. 
The hens lay all their eggs together — each ten to twelve — in one nest, this being merely a shal- 
low cavity scraped in the ground, of such dimensions as to be conveniently covered by one of 
these gigantic birds in incubation. An ingenious device is employed to save space, and give at 
the same time to all the eggs their due share of warmth. Each one of the eggs is made to stand 
with the narrow end on the bottom of the nest and the broad end upward, and the earth which 
has been scraped out to form the cavity is employed to confine the outer circle, and keep the 
whole in the proper position. The hens relieve each other in the task of incubation during the 
* The ostrich is generally understood to be the bird designated by the terms Joneh or Jaandh and Rimnim in the 
Scriptures— Levit.'xi. 19; Deut. xiv. 15; Job xxx. 29; Isaiah xiii. 21; xxxiv. 13; xliii. 20; Jer. I. 39; Lament, iv. 
3 ; Mic. i. 8 ; Job xxxix. IS. In many of these passages, Jer. 1. 39, and Isaiah, for instance, our version reads 
"'owls," and in Leviticus does not mention the ostrich, but the general opinion seems to be in favor of the ostrich 
being intended. 
