OSTRICH. 
46' 1 
mg almost any thing, and with an appetite to which 
no food comes amiss, the ostrich finds a supply in 
those parched and barren districts, that seem so 
little calculated for the support of animal life. 
Y oung ostriches are entirely covered with feathers 
during the first year. These are of an ash gray 
colour, and are soon shed by the bird ; but never 
grow again on the head, on the top of the neck, on 
the thighs, on the sides, and below the wings. The 
other parts of the body are provided with a beautiful 
plumage of black and white feathers. The longest 
and most esteemed of all are those at the extremity 
of the tail, and of the wings. The value which 
these feathers bear in Europe we should naturally 
suppose would make them an object worthy the 
attention of the settlers in the interior of Africa; yet 
Mr. Barrow assures us that the annual exportation 
of them from that country amounts to a mere trifle, 
the boors preferring the immediate benefit of the 
eggs, which affords them a pleasant nourishment, 
to the encouragement of a future source of profit. 
So little indeed is the advantage they derive from 
this article, that the feathers are generally given as 
presents to the butchers’ servants who purchase 
cattle and sheep of the farmers for the Cape market. 
The usual height of an ostrich is about seven feet 
from the top of the head to the ground, but not 
more than four from the back, therefore the neck 
and head will measure three feet. The wings are 
very short in proportion to the size of the bird, and 
