oor. Ber Ry Ds, 89 
under the wings, remain afterwards bare of fea- 
thers; on the other parts of the body, the feathers 
are white and black by turns, and fome are grey. 
The feathers on the lower part of the neck are 
“the fhorteft; they grow longer on the ftomach 
‘and on the back; but the longeft of all are in the 
tail and the wings, and they are the moft valued, 
_ Moft other birds are apt to have infe&ts upon 
their bodies, but none have been found on the 
Oftrich. 
Some people have thought that Oftriches could 
digeft {tones and iron, and iron even when it was 
red hot; but this muft ‘be a miftake: it is very 
true that they will {wallow ftones, and glafs, and 
iron, partly, perhaps, becaufe they may not finell 
very well, and partly to enable them to digeft 
their other food, as Poultry {wallow {mall ftones 
for that purpofe. 
The Oftrich is a bird peculiar to Africa, to athe 
neighbouring iflands, and to thofe parts of Afia 
that are near Africa, — 
|. Ofttiches prefer Tonely fituations where it 
| feldom rains. The Arabians fay that they never 
drink. They fometimes go in large flocks, and 
ata diftance look like f{quadrons of horfe; and in 
j thefe defert places they often alarm the caravans. 
. : . «here 




