406 OuKsoRES. BIRDS. Struthionid/E. 
shield. The bones of which the skeleton is composed 
are also almost destitute of those large air cells, which 
in other birds reduce their weight so greatly, and thus 
facilitate their motion in the air. 
x\s these birds are thus destined to a strictly terres- 
trial mode of existence, their whole conformation is 
adapted to the augmentation of their power of running, 
which they do with extraordinary swiftness, and hence 
the name of cursores or runners, is applied to them 
with great propriety. The pelvis, which gives attach- 
ment to the legs, is very large and firm, and the pubic 
arch is complete, a structure which docs not occur 
in otlier birds. The anterior jiart of the pelvis also 
encases tlie lumbar region of the spine, and thus the 
whole apparatus becomes very large and strong. The 
legs are greatly developed, both in length and strength, 
and terminated by two or three toes, -which generally 
form a sole of great firmness. In only one living genus, 
the curious Apteryx, do we find any trace of a hinder 
toe, and this is very rudimentary. 
The neck is elongated in proportion to the length of 
the legs, and in most of the species the bill is short, 
depressed, broad, and triangular when viewed from 
above ; in the genus Apteryx, on the contrary, the bill 
is long and nearly cylindrical. The character of the 
plumage is very peculiar, the feathers of the body 
being always furnished with long separate baibs, Avhich 
in most cases present more resemblance in their general 
aspect to hairs than to feathers. The head and neck 
are frequently naked, or clotheil only with down. 
In their internal structure these birds also present 
some curious peculiarities; their fleshy tongue is free 
at the tip, and they have a sort of rudimentary bladder 
and traces of a diaphragm separating the thoracic from 
the abdominal cavity — characters which, the latter espe- 
cially,- have been considered to indicate some slight 
approach to mammalian structure. 
The living species form two families, of one of 
which the Ostrich, and of the other the Apteryx, is 
the type. 
Family L— STRUTIIIONIDiE. 
The general characters of this family have been 
indicated above, by contrast with those peculiari- 
ties mentioned as pertaining exclusively to the genus 
Apteryx. The biids forming this genus have long, 
muscular, and powerful legs, terminated by two or 
three toes, and without the smallest rudiment of a 
hinder toe ; the neck is elongated, and generally naked 
or clothed only with down ; and the bill is broad, 
depressed, and triangular, with the nostrils situated in 
a groove near the base of the upper mandible. 
THE OSTRICH Camelus) -Plate 21,flg.79— 
an inhabitant of the vast sandy deserts of Africa, is the 
largest of living birds, measuring from six to eight feet 
ill height when it carries its head erect. It is distin- 
guished from all the other species by the structure of 
the feet, which have only two toes, of which the outer 
one is considerably shorter than the inner. The gene- 
ral appearance of this magnificent bird is well shown 
in our figure ; its plumage consists of very soft decom- 
posed feathers, of which those of the wings and tail 
are greatly developed, and constitute the well-known 
Ostrich plumes. 
Over the boundless African deserts the Ostricl; 
roams in flocks, trusting, like the antelopes and other 
quadrupeds of these regions, to its swiftness of foot for 
security from animals of prey or the pursuit of man. 
So rapid is its course, indeed, that the swiftest horse is 
unable to keep up with it, and the hunters are com- 
pelled either to bewilder it by approaching it in differ- 
ent directions, or to drive it in a circle by continually 
relieving each other in the pursuit, until the swift runner 
is tired out. When in imminent danger, the Ostrich fre- 
quently defends himself by violent kicks with his feet. 
The food of the Ostriches consists of herbage, seeds, 
insects, worms, and snails, and probably of almost any 
nutritive materials that come in their way ; in cap- 
tivity they are known to be by no means particular in 
their choice of diet, swallowing even such indigestible 
articles as leather, wood, and iron. Whether these 
hard substances assist the digestion of the bird like the 
small stones swallowed by many other granivorous 
species, we can hardly say ; but there is certainly no 
foundation for the belief, formerly widely spread, and 
perhaps still entertained by the ignorant, that the 
Ostrich is capable of digesting metals. 
In its naj;ive wilds the Ostrich is polygamous in its 
habits. The eggs, which are of large size, usually 
weighing about three pounds, are deposited to the 
number of ten or twelve in a hole' scratched in the 
sand, where their evolution is effected principally by 
the heat of the sun. The female, however, watches 
over them carefully, and sits upon them at night. The 
young birds can run as soon as they quit the egg. 
THE NANDU {Rhea americana ) — ^^Plate 21, fig. 80 — 
also called the liliea and the American Ostrich, is not 
more than half the size of the African species, from 
which it diflers structurally in liaving three toes upon 
each foot and the head and neck clothed with downy 
feathers, and in the total absence of tail-feathers. The 
plumes of the wings are elongated and decomposed, 
somewhat resembling in their structure those of the 
African Ostrich, to which, however, they are far inferior 
in delicacy, and are only employed in the manufacture 
of light brooms. This bii-d is found abundantly in 
the great plains of South America, nearly down to its 
southern extremity; it lives in flocks, and is polyga- 
mous, but according to the late Earl of Derby the male- 
bird scratches the hole in the ground for the reception 
of the eggs, which he collects from the scattered places 
where they are frequently deposited by the females, 
and afterwards .sits upon them. According to Mr. 
Darwin, the males, when thus engaged, sit so closely 
that they may almost be ridden over before they will 
stir ; but at the same time they are so fierce, that if 
disturbed they will often attack the intruders, and have 
even been known to leap up and endeavour to kick a 
man on horseback. These birds, according to Mr. 
Daiwin, show no reluctance to take the water, but 
will swim easily but slowly across even broad and rapid 
rivers, or from island to island in bays. They are hunted 
by men on horseback, and captured either by means 
of the lasso, or with an instrument composed of two 
large balls or heavy stones, united by a long leathern 
