OF BIRDS. 
167 
with that of birds, and to form a connecting link in the 
great chain of animated nature. In appearance it resem- 
bles the camel ; it is covered with a plumage more like 
hair than feathers; and its internal parts bear as near a 
similitude to those of the quadrupeds as of the bird 
creation. 
The ostrich is generally seven feet high, from the top 
of the head to the ground, but from the back it is only 
four ; so that the head and neck are above three feet long. 
From the top of the head to the rump, when the neck is 
stretched out in a right line, the length is six feet, and 
that of the tail about a foot more. One of the wings, 
when stretched out is about three feet : and at the end of 
each wing there is a kind of spur, almost like the quill 
of the porcupine. The plumage is generally black and 
white ; the upper part of the head and neck are covered 
with fine white hair, and in some places there are small 
tufts of it, which grow from a single shaft, about the thick- 
ness of a pin. The neck of this animal, which is of a 
livid flesh colour, seems to be more slender in proportion 
than that of other birds, from its not being furnished 
with feathers: the head and bill somewhat resemble 
those of a duck; and the external form of the eye is like 
that of a man’s, the upper eye-lids being adorned with 
lashes which are longer than those on the lid below. The 
thighs are large, fleshy, and wrinkled in the manner of a 
net; the legs are covered before with large scales; the 
foot is cloven, and has two toes of unequal sizes. 
These animals seem formed to live among the sandy 
and arid deserts of the torrid zone; and in these formida- 
ble regions they are seen in large flocks, which, to the 
distant spectator, appear like a regiment of cavalry, and 
have often alarmed a whole caravan. There is no spot, 
however sterile, but what is capable of supplying them 
with provision; as they are of all creatures the most vo- 
racious, and possess surprising powers of digestion.™ 
Hence thqy will devour leather, hair, stones, or any thing 
that is given, and those substances which the coats of the 
stomach cannot soften, are excluded in the form in which 
they were swallowed. In their native deserts, however. 
