444 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
bill and two legs. The two are common, however, in respect to their plumage 
which is more like hair than like feathers. The skin of the apteryx is also 
very similar to that of a mammal, and is used by the natives for making 
dresses, for which purpose it is very highly valued. The dinornis differed 
from the ostrich in having four toes, like those peculiar to gallinaceous birds, 
in being covered with filamentary feathers, if a license for such an expression 
is allowable. The plumage, however, certainly resembled hair more than it did 
feathers, but the internal organism of the ostrich is identical with that of the 
dinornis and apteryx. Concerning these two wingless birds a writer in the 
American Cyclopcedia observes : “ The occurrence of these gigantic birds in New 
Zealand adds much to the evidence that similar apterous and low-organized 
reptilian birds existed in America during the red sandstone epoch (the age of 
reptiles) when the cold-blooded and slow-breathing ovifera (egg bearing) exhibited 
such various forms and so great a number of species.” 
The ostrich has been likened to a camel, though the resemblance is certainly 
not pronounced, if we except the one single characteristic of a common omnivorous 
appetite and marvellous digestive powers. The plumage is hair-like and 
coarse, save the wing-feathers which compose the ostrich-plumes of com¬ 
merce. The creature is entirely bare on the sides and thighs, leaving the dun- 
colored and sometimes livid flesh-colored skin exposed, which is 
wrinkled, and resembles the meshes of a net. The legs are covered 
with large scales, as are the feet, which are cloven to form two toe? 
of unequal length, the inside one being the longer. The neck is 
long and swan-like, covered with short, white hairs, and the head is 
comparatively bare, being surmounted with tufts of white bristles. At 
the joint of each wing, there is a spur or sharp quill, an inch in 
length, and of a horny substance. The eyes are pro¬ 
vided with lids and lashes like those of a man, in which 
respect it has a mammalian characteristic. The internal 
parts of this animal are formed with no less surprising 
foot of the ostrich. peculiarity. At the top of the breast, under the skin, 
the fat is two inches thick, and on the fore part of the 
belly it is as hard as suet, and about two inches and a half thick 
in some places. It has two distinct stomachs. The first, which is 
lowermost, in its natural situation, somewhat resembles the crop in other 
birds; but it is considerably larger than the other stomach, and is fur¬ 
nished with strong muscular fibres, as well circular as longitudinal. The 
second stomach, or gizzard, has outwardly the shape of the stomach of a man; 
and upon opening is always found filled with a variety of discordant substances: 
hay, grass, barley, beans, bones and stones, some of which exceed in size a 
pullet’s egg. The kidneys. are eight inches long, and two broad, and differ 
from those of other birds in not being divided into lobes. The heart and 
lungs are separated by a midriff, as in quadrupeds, and the parts of generation 
also bear a very strong resemblance to those of the mammals. 
The voracity of the ostrich has become proverbial, nor can any statement, 
it would. seem, exaggerate the fact. It will swallow indiscriminately glass, 
stones, pieces of metal, or any other substance. This habit is, no doubt, 
prompted largely by necessity, since we know that all birds swallow pebbles, 
which serve the double purpose of keeping the coats of the gizzard apart, 
and to assist the process of grinding up the natural food. 
