16 
XATUEAL HISTORY. 
[east. ZOOL 
parts of the New World, where they are seen among the low brushwood 
or tall grass; their food consists of fruits and insects; as the great tina- 
mou, variegated tinamou, &c. The Megapodius is peculiar to the 
Asiatic Islands and Australia, as the megapodius, and the New Holland 
vulture, &c. 
Wall Cases 107—134. The W^ading Birds. 
Cases 107—109. The Ostriches, which are in flocks, and subsist on 
grain, fruits, and herbage ; as the ostrich of Africa; American emu. 
New Holland cassowary, and galeated cassowary. 
Case 108. The Dodo, which is only known by remains, as, for ex¬ 
ample, the foot in this Case (presented by the Royal Society), and a 
head (of which a cast is in this Case) and foot, said to have belonged 
to a specimen which was formerly in Tradescant’s Museum, now form¬ 
ing part of the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford. The bird represented 
in the painting, in the shortness of the wings and colour, has much 
analogy to the ostrich, but its foot greatly resembles that of the common 
fowl; and the head, from the cere and the position of the nostrils, is 
most nearly allied to the vultures ; so that if these remains really be¬ 
longed to one species, and that the one here represented, its true place 
in the series of birds is not as yet satisfactorily determined. An original 
painting of this bird, presented to the Museum by George Edwards, (and 
copied in his works, plate 294,) who says it was drawn in Holland, from 
a living bird brought from St. Maurice’s Island, in the East Indies, is 
placed on the back of the Case. The Apteryx is peculiar to New 
Zealand, where they are nocturnal birds, and feed on worms and insects. 
Cases 110, 111. The true Bustards, which are peculiar to the 
Eastern Hemisphere and Australia; they feed equally on grain, herbage, 
worms, and insects; as the great bustard, of Europe, but occasionally 
found in England; Arabian bustard; white-eared bustard of Africa; 
ruffed bustard of North Africa. 
Case 112. Coursers that live in the sandy deserts, where they run 
with surprising speed if disturbed; they feed on worms, &c.; as the 
cream-coloured courser of Northern Africa, which has occasionally been 
found in Britain; double-collared courser of Africa, &c. ; the thick- 
knees are found in the uncultivated open country and dry deserts, search¬ 
ing for worms, slugs, and insects, &c., as the thick-kneed bustard of 
Europe, &c. 
Case 113. The Plovers inhabit Europe and various parts of the 
world ; their food consists of worms, insects, &c.; as the golden plover, 
dotterel plover of Europe; spur-winged plover, wreathed plover of 
Africa, &c.; ringed plover of Europe; noisy plover of North Ame¬ 
rica, &c. 
Case 114. The Turnstones obtained their name from the habit of 
turning stones over to seek for the small shells and Crustacea that are 
hid under them ; as the turnstone sandpiper of the English shores and 
of other parts of the world. The Oyster-catchers seek their food on 
the sea-shores; it consists of shell-fish, which they are enabled to 
wrench out by inserting their bill between the valves, also of other ma¬ 
rine productions; as the pied oyster-catcher, black oyster-catcher of 
Australia, &c. 
