S T R U 
inhabitants of Numidia tame and breed them, to live upon 
their flesh, and sell their feathers. Their eggs are said to con¬ 
tain as much food as thirty of those of a common hen. The 
beauty of the plumage of this bird, particularly of the long 
feathers that compose the wings and the tail, is the chief 
reason why man has been so active in pursuing him into the 
deserts, at so much expense and labour. The Arabs, who 
made a trade of killing these birds, formerly converted their 
skins into a kind of buckler. The ancients used their plumes 
as ornaments for their helmets. The ladies in the East make 
them still an ornament in their dress, and they are not unfre- 
quently used in this country for the same purpose. In Tur¬ 
key, the Janizary, who has signalized himself by some mili¬ 
tary achievement, is allowed to assume them as a decoration 
to his turban ; and the sultan, in the seraglio, when meditat¬ 
ing conquests and feats of a more gentle nature, puts them 
on, as the most irresistible ornament of his person. 
The spoils of the ostrich being thus valuable as articles of 
commerce, the hunting of that bird is one of the most serious 
employments of the Arabs, who train their fleetest horses for 
the purpose. Although the ostrich be far swifter than the 
best courser, yet by hunters on horseback he is commonly 
taken ; and it is said of all the varieties of the chace, this is 
the most difficult and laborious. The Arab, when mounted, 
still keeps the ostrich in view, but without pushing him so 
close as to make his escape to the mountains, but at the same 
time so as to prevent him from taking food. This is the more 
readily done, as the bird takes its course in a wavering and 
circuitous direction, which is greatly shortened by the 
hunters, who come up behind, and relieving each other by 
turns, thus keep him still running. After two or three days 
of fatigue and famine, he becomes exhausted, and the hunters 
fall upon him by striking him on the head with cudgels, that 
his blood may not tarnish the lustre of his white feath¬ 
ers. When all possibility of escape is cut off, the ostrich 
hides its head, conscious that this is its most vulnerable 
point. 
Ostriches, though inhabitants of the desert, and possessed 
of prodigious strength, are, especially if taken young, neither 
so fierce nor difficult to tame as might be expected. The 
inhabitants of Dara and Evbia render them domestic, like 
herds of cattle, with scarcely any other means than constantly 
accustoming them to the sight and society of man ; to receive 
from him their food, and to be treated with gentleness. 
Besides the use of their feathers, ostriches, in their domestic 
state, are said to be mounted and rode upon in the same 
manner as horses. It is asserted by Adanson, that at the 
factory of Podore, he had himself two ostriches, that ran 
faster than a race-horse with a negro each on their backs. 
Though these birds may be so tamed that they will suffer 
themselves to be driven in flocks to and from their stalls, and 
even to be mounted like horses, yet their stupidity is such, 
that they can never be taught to obey the hand of the rider, 
to comprehend the meaning of his commands, or submit to 
his will. From this intractable disposition, there is reason to 
apprehend that man will ever be able to avail himself of 
the strength and swiftness of the ostrich, as he has availed 
himself of those qualities of the horse. The voracity of this 
bird far exceeds that of any animal whatever; for it will 
devour every thing it meets with, stones, wood, brass, iron, 
or leather, as readily as it will grain and fruit, which, in its 
native wilds, are probably its principal food. 
The season at which the ostrich lays her eggs varies very 
much with the temperature of the climate. Those north of 
the equator begin to lay their eggs in the beginning of July, 
while such as inhabit the south of Africa defer it till the end 
of December. Climate and situation have also a great influ¬ 
ence cn their manner of incubation. In the torrid zone, the 
ostrich is contented with depositing her eggs in a mass of 
sand, seemingly scraped together with her feet. There they 
are sufficiently heated to the warmth of the sun, and need 
the incubation of the female only for a little time during the 
night. But although the ostrich be but little engaged in 
hatching her eggs, she displays, by continually watching for 
the preservation of her progeny, all the solicitude of a tender 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1597. 
T H I O. 645 
mother. In proportion to the coldness of the climate, the 
ostrich hatches with more assiduity; and it is only in the 
warm regions, where there is no danger of her eggs being 
chilled, that she leaves them by day, a circumstance from 
which she very early incurred the reproach of being destitute 
of parental aflection. So far, however, is this from being 
true, that she continually watches for their preservation, so 
long as they remain in a helpless state, which is always a 
longer or shorter period, according to the climate. Neither 
the size of the eggs of these birds, nor the time necessary for 
hatching them, nor the number of the young, are exactly 
ascertained. 
2. Struthio casuarius, or cassowary.—Feet three-toed; 
helmet and dew-laps naked —This bird inhabits the torrid 
zone, and especially the island of Java, whence it was 
brought into Europe in the year 1597. Its habitation be¬ 
gins in those temperate climes which are contiguous to the 
precincts of the ostrich; and as it occupies a region more 
favourable to the multiplication of the human race, its 
numbers are continually decreasing, in proportion to the in¬ 
crease of the number of its destroyers. Cassowaries are of 
various sizes; they have been seen as large as six feet high. 
The Dutch compare the bulk of this bird to that of a sheep. 
From the shortness of the legs and neck, they are not so tall 
as the ostrich, but the body has a more heavy and clumsy 
appearance. The most remarkable trait in the appearance 
of these birds is a sort of helmet on the head, which reaches 
from the base of the bill to the crown. The middle or 
upper eye-lid is furnished with a row of black hairs, which 
gives the animal a wild aspect, which the large aperture of 
the beak renders still more fierce and menacing. The head 
and upper part of the neck are almost naked, being only 
here and there interspersed with blackish hairs, that partially 
cover a blue wrinkled skin. The feathers that cover the 
body of the cassowary, as well as those of the wing are all of 
one kind, and of the same blackish colour. They are gene¬ 
rally double, having two shafts, that grow from one short 
trunk, which is fixed in the skin. The small fibres of which 
the vanes are composed, have so little adhesion to each 
other, that the bird, when viewed at a distance, seems 
clothed with hair instead of feathers. The wings of the 
cassowary are still shorter than those of the ostrich, and con¬ 
sequently still more unfit for flying. They are furnished 
each with four hard pointed feathers, resembling darts, of 
which the longest, which is about eleven inches, is a quarter 
of an inch thick at the root. Its feet are also armed with 
large black claws, which give the animal an appearance of 
being formed for hostility. But though supplied with wea¬ 
pons that might render it formidable to the rest of the animal 
world, the cassowary leads a peaceable and inoffensive life. 
It never attacks others, and nothing short of necessity will 
make it defend itself. The movements of the cassowary, 
when travelling, are awkward and heavy, nevertheless it 
will, in running, outstrip the fleetest horse. It is distin¬ 
guished by the same voracity which characterises the ostrich, 
swallowing every thing that is offered to it unless it be too 
large for the circumference of its throat; and it possesses the 
faculty of rejecting its food, when disagreeable, with the 
same di-patch with which it took it in. The female lays a 
number of ash-coloured eggs, about thirteen inches in cir¬ 
cumference one way, and six the other; they are of a green¬ 
ish colour, with dark green spots. 
3. Struthio Novae Hollandiae, or New Holland cassowary 
—Feet three toed ; crown flat; shanks serrate behind. The 
bill is black ; head, neck, and body, covered with bristly 
feathers, varied with brown and grey; throat rather naked, 
biueish; feathers of the body a little incurved at the tip; 
wings scarcely visible; legs brown.—This, as its specific 
name imports, is found chiefly in New Holland, and is seven 
feet two inches long. 
■ 4. Struthio rhea, or American ostrich.—Feet three-toed, 
and a round callus behind. This bird is so nearly allied to 
the ostrich, already described, that it has been considered as 
his representative in the new continent, to which it pecu¬ 
liarly belongs.—It inhabits Guiana, Brasil, Chili, and those 
8 B immense 
