THE OSTRICH AND ITS KINDRED 
9 
■course, but always turning and 
twisting, which made it difficult for 
us to keep them in sight. . . . We 
went sailing on, neck and neck, 
regardless of holes or anything else, 
■only thinking of the grandly 
plumaged birds in front of us, our 
horses straining every nerve to over- 
take them, as only old stagers know 
how to run when in pursuit of game. 
We had now approached within fifty 
yards, and, jumping down, we fired 
at two cock birds running separately 
from the troop, bringing them both 
•down. Hastily mounting, we con- 
tinued on after the retreating 
troop ; but at this juncture my 
friend’s horse trod in a hole, sending 
his rider over his head, thereby 
completely . putting him out of the 
run. I now continued the chase by 
myself. For a mile the ostriches 
gained on me, as they continued to 
run in a straight line, thereby not 
enabling me to cut off any point, 
but obliging me to keep in their 
rear all the time. ... I got off 
twice, and fired several fruitless 
shots, and then continued the chase 
for certainly two miles without dis- 
mounting once. ... I now got 
within a hundred yards, and jumped 
down. . . . The first shot I fired brought down a fine cock bird, but the second struck the 
ground over the others, turning them to the right along a low ridge. They appeared 
very much exhausted, and ran with their wings spread out. ... I saw that they were coming 
direct for me, and waited until they were close. . . . When the ostriches approached within 
fifteen yards, I selected the best-looking bird, and put a bullet through him. He ran on for 
about twenty yards and fell dead.” 
Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S.] 
SCLATER’ S 
T/iis bird is not yet full gronvn, the horny casque on the top of the head 
being much larger in the adult 
Cassowaries and Emeus 
With the Cassowaries and Emeus we have come as near as we can get at the present day 
to the representatives of the ancient type from which the Ostrich Tribe have sprung. But 
both these forms are to be regarded as having passed the prime of their development, for, 
like their allies which we have already considered, they have lost the power of flight. Both 
emeu and cassowary possess, when adult, one character shared by no other living adult bird ; 
they have what may be called double feathers, each feather possessing two shafts of equal 
length. They appear to follow a custom of their own in the matter of the coloration of their 
eggs, since these are never white, like those of the rhea or ostrich, but green, with a very rough 
surface. The young, like those of the rhea, are striped with alternate black and white stripes. 
The emeu is found only on the continent of Australia ; the cassowary occurs both in Australia 
and on the neighbouring islands of New Guinea, Ceram, and Aru. 
The lot of the Cassowary appears to have been cast in pleasant places, making it possible 
