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OSTRICHES. 
POUCH OF THE BUSTARD. 
W e come now to the last tribe in the gallinaceous 
order, consisting of birds altogether foreign, of very 
peculiar habits : these, as far as wings and flight are 
concerned, having scarcely a right to he classed 
amongst birds, as they never quit the ground, and 
know nothing of the power possessed by others of the 
feathered race, of soaring aloft, and fleeing away like 
the Dove, should they wish to seek for food, or repose, 
in a distant country. These birds are the Ostrich, 
the Emu, or the Cassowary, and one or two others 
little known. 
Of these the Ostrich is the most common: its 
beautiful light plumes have long been used as 
ornaments in ladies’ head-dresses; and to this pro- 
bably, as it was diligently sought after as a valuable 
prize to the captor, we are indebted for all we know 
of its natural history, though still much remains un- 
known, for no bird has been more misrepresented : first, 
as a parent, who, after laying her eggs in the desert, 
left them to be hatched by the sun, and cherished no 
