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Show 364 AVES. and regimen give them numerous affinities with the Gallinacere. It appears as if all the m~scul~r power which is at ~he command of nature, would be msufhctent to move such Immense wings as would be required ~o support their mas~ive bo?ies ~ the air. The sternum is a simple buckler, and Is deficient m that ridge which is found in all other birds. . The pec~o~l muscles are thin and delicate, but the posteriOr extremities regain what the wings have lo.st-the muscles o.f the thighs, and of the legs in particular, bemg enormously thiCk and stout. The thumb is always deficient.(!) They form two genera. STRUTHIO, Lin. The Ostriches have wings furnished with loose and flexible feathers, but still sufficiently long to increase their speed in running. Every one knows the elegance of these slender-stemmed plumes, the barbs of which, although furnished with little hooks, always remain sepa· rate, contrary to what takes place in most other birds. Their beak is horizontally depressed, of a moderate length, and blunt at the end; their tongue short, and rounded like a crescent; their eye large, and the lid fringed with lashes; their legs and tarsi very long. They have an enormous crop, a large sac between the crop and gizzard, vo.lu· minous intestines, long creca, and a vast reservoir in which the un~e accumulates as in a bladder, being the only birds which can be saJd to urine. The penis is very large, and is frequently exposed.(2) But two species are known, each of which might form a separate genus. Struthio camelus, L.; Enl. 457.(3) (The Ostrich of the Eas:r ern Continent.) But two toes, the external of which is one ha shorter than its fellow, and has no nail. This bird, so highly celebrated from the earliest ages, abounds in the sandy deserts of Arabia and Africa. It attains the height of six or eightfeet, lives i~ great troops, lays eggs, each weighing nearly three ( 1) The number of the phalanges is as follows, commencing with the inter· nal toe: Ostrich, 4, 5: Nnndou and Cassoway, 3, 4, 5: 'Vhich amounts to the numbers common among birds. t' (2) For the genito-urinary organs of bu· ·ds, an d t h ose of th e Ostrich in par 1cu· lar, consult the Mcm. of Geoffroy Saint-Hillaire, Mem. du ~us., tom. XV. du Mus. (3} See also the beautiful figure drawn by Marechal m the Menag. of L:lccp. and Cuvier, copied Vieill. Galer. pl. 223. GRALLATORIJE. 365 pounds, which, in very hot climates, it is contented with exposing in the sand to the warmth of the sun, but over which, out of the tropics, it broods with great care, defending them courageously every where. The Ostrich feeds on grass, grain, &c., and so obtuse is its sense of taste that it swallows pebbles, pieces of iron, copper, &c. When pursued it dashes stones behind it with great violence. No animal can overtake it in the race. 8trUth. rhea, L.;(l) Nandou, Ghuri, &c., Hammer. An. Mus. XII, xxxix; Vieill. Galer. 224. (The American Ostrich.) Is about one half smaller, with more thinly furnished feathers, of a uniform grey colour, and particularly distinguished by its three toes, all having nails. Its plumage is greyish, browner on the back: a black line along the back of the neck in the male. It is as common in the southern parts of South America, as the preceding one is in Africa. When taken young, it is easily tamed. Several females, it is said, lay in the same nest, or rather the same hole, yellowish eggs, which are hatched by the male. It is only eaten when very young. CAsUARius, Briss. The Cassowaries have wings still shorter than those of the Ostrich, and totally useless, even in running. 'l'here are three toes to all the feet, each furnished with a nail; the barbs of their feathers are so poorly p1•ovided with barbulre, that at a distance they resemble pendent hairs. Two species are known, each of which might also constitute a genus. 8truthio casuariua, L.; Emeu,(2) Enl. 313, and better Frisch, 105.(3) (The Cassowary.) The beak laterally compressed; head surmounted by a bony prominence, covered with a horny substance; skin of the head and top of the neck naked, of an azut·e-blue and a fiery red colour, with pendent caruncles like those of the Turkey; some stiff stems in the wings, without barbs, which the bird uses as weapons in combat; nail of the internal toe much the strongest. It is the largest of all birds, next to the Ostrich, and differs considerably from it in its anatomy, for (1) Brisson and Buffon, following Barrere, have improperly applied to it the name of Touyou, or rather of Touiouiou, which belongs to the Jabiru. It is the genua RAea of Brisson. The Portuguese of Brazil have transferred to it the name ofEmeu, which properly belongs to the Cassowary. ( 2 ) 0aJJttUwari8, the Malay name of this bird. Eme, or Emeu, its peculiar appellation in Banda. (~) There is also an excellent figure of it by Marechal in the Menag. du Mus. COpted Vieill. Galer. pl. 225. |