The Ostrich. 
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§ VI. Grallatores, or Waders. 
THE OSTEICH. (Struthio camelus.) 
This bird is a native of Africa, and is so tall that when 
it holds up its head it is seven or eight feet in height. 
The head is very small in comparison with the body, 
being hardly bigger than one of the toes, and is covered, 
as well as the neck, with a kind of down, or thin-set 
hair, instead of feathers. The sides and thighs are 
entirely bare and flesh-coloured. The lower part of the 
neck, where the feathers begin, is white. The wings 
are very short in proportion to the size of the bird, and 
in fact are too small to enable it to fly ; but when it 
runs, which it does with a strange jumping kind of 
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