Four feet, wings, and fins . ank. 287 BOB WHITE. A lyre-pheasant ? repeated Mr. Dumas, slowly. You must mean the lyre-bird. Isnt it a pheasant? No, it is not so large as a pheasant. It may bebe found in Australia, and belongs to the familyMenuridcE, order Insessores, It is called the lyre-bird, because when displaying itself like a peacock,the tail takes the form of a lyre or harp, being com-posed of three kinds of feathers. It is shy anddifficult to find. It is almost equal to our mocking-bird in its song, also in imitating other birds. It caneven bark like a dog Mr. Dumas, since you have bee
Four feet, wings, and fins . ank. 287 BOB WHITE. A lyre-pheasant ? repeated Mr. Dumas, slowly. You must mean the lyre-bird. Isnt it a pheasant? No, it is not so large as a pheasant. It may bebe found in Australia, and belongs to the familyMenuridcE, order Insessores, It is called the lyre-bird, because when displaying itself like a peacock,the tail takes the form of a lyre or harp, being com-posed of three kinds of feathers. It is shy anddifficult to find. It is almost equal to our mocking-bird in its song, also in imitating other birds. It caneven bark like a dog Mr. Dumas, since you have been everywhere,have you seen any real, live ostriches .f* asked Frank. Plenty of them. Arent they as large as a man ? O, a great deal taller than a man ! exclaimedMay. Well, said Mr. Dumas, they measure fromseven to nine feet when their long necks are ele-vated. They are found in the sandy deserts of Asiaand Africa. They are jet black, mostly, with theexception of a few, long snowy plumes, sticking intheir tails and wings. 288. The Prairie Hen. BOB WHITE. Ive dot a dreat, long white one all around mybest hat, spoke up Rose. Are they ever found in our country ? askedFrank. In South America; but they are not so largeas those of the Old world, and their plumage isvery little valued, it being a dull gray and not halfso finely formed. The ostrich lays its great eggs inthe hot sand, leaving the heat to act upon them byday, but setting upon them at night. If a personso much as touches one of their eggs, it makes themso angry that they trample every one to pieces, andleave them forever. The ostrich can run fasterthan the fleetest horse. She raises her wings, whichassist her flight, like two sails. The Greeks callthe ostrich the camel-bird, and she can be tamedand taught to take the place of a horse or cameloften bearing burdens on her back. It is no uncom-mon sight to see ostriches ridden by negroes. Some-times a hungry ostrich will steal around a negroshut and feast upon the little duck
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1879
