. The birds of South Africa. Birds. 524 STEUTHIONID^ STRUTHIO in a membranous groove near the middle of the bill; wings short and imperfect with long soft plumes ; tail moderate, of curved pendant plume-like feathers; tarsi very long and strong, covered in front on the lower half with transverse scutes; toes only two in number, the third and fourth, short and robust, the outer the shorter ; claws short, broad and flattened. Four species of Ostriches are now generally recognised, but the differences are not very marked or clearly defined. In addition to the Southern Ostrich (S. australis) and t
. The birds of South Africa. Birds. 524 STEUTHIONID^ STRUTHIO in a membranous groove near the middle of the bill; wings short and imperfect with long soft plumes ; tail moderate, of curved pendant plume-like feathers; tarsi very long and strong, covered in front on the lower half with transverse scutes; toes only two in number, the third and fourth, short and robust, the outer the shorter ; claws short, broad and flattened. Four species of Ostriches are now generally recognised, but the differences are not very marked or clearly defined. In addition to the Southern Ostrich (S. australis) and the original North African and Arabian bird (S. camelus), the Somali (S. molybdophanes) and East African {S. masaicus) Ostriches have recently been recognised as Pig. 161.—Head of Struthio australis, after Wolf. The males of the North African and Masai Ostriches have reddish necks, which in the former is very thinly, in the latter very thickly clothed with woolly down; the males of the Somali and Southern Ostrich have bluish-grey necks, while the former is distinguished from the latter by the presence of a horny shield at the top of the head surrounded by downy hairs. This is entirely absent in the South African bird. The eggs of the various species of Ostriches show differences which seem to be fairly constant. Those of S. camelus are quite smooth and polished with no pores or pits such as are characteristic of the other three species. In S. masaicus and S. molybdophanes the pits or pores are of a deep purple colour, while those of S. australis are but slightly darker than the rest of the surface of the Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Stark, Arthur Cowell, d. 1899; Sclater, William Lutley, 1863-1944; Sclater, William Lutley, 1863-1944. Fauna of South Africa. London, R. H.
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