. Chambers's encyclopedia; a dictionary of universal knowledge for the people. lengtli, broad, flattened, rounded at thetip, tlie mandibles flexil>le; the head small; theneck Inug; the legs long (both tibia and tarsus) andvery robust, the lower part of the tiljia, as well as the tarsus, naked; the feet have only two toes, ofwhich the inner is the largest, and has a short claw,the outer has no claw ; the winga are too short to beused for flight, but are useful to aid in running; theplumage is lax and flexible ; the wings and tail havelong soft drooping illumes. Only one speciea isknown (S. c
. Chambers's encyclopedia; a dictionary of universal knowledge for the people. lengtli, broad, flattened, rounded at thetip, tlie mandibles flexil>le; the head small; theneck Inug; the legs long (both tibia and tarsus) andvery robust, the lower part of the tiljia, as well as the tarsus, naked; the feet have only two toes, ofwhich the inner is the largest, and has a short claw,the outer has no claw ; the winga are too short to beused for flight, but are useful to aid in running; theplumage is lax and flexible ; the wings and tail havelong soft drooping illumes. Only one speciea isknown (S. camdus), a native of tlie sandy deserts ofAfrica and Arabia; the South American ostriches,or Nandus (q. v.), constituting a distinct 0. is the largest of all birds now existin:,,beingfrom six to eight feet in height to the top of itshead, and an adult male weighing from two to threehundred pounds. The male is rather larger thanthe female. The head and upper part of the neckare scantily covered with a thin do^vn, throughwhich the skin is visible. The youug have the. Ostrich (Struthio camelus). head and neck clothed with feathers. The generalplumage is glossy black in the adult male, darkgray in the female and young, with a slight sprink-ling of white feathers; the long plumes of thewings and tail are white, occasionally marked withblack. On each wing are two plumeless shafts, notunlike porcupines quills. The inner toe is verylarge, about seven inches long, and its claw hoof-like. Whilst the sternum is destitute of a keel, andthe muscles which move the wings are compara-tively weak, those which move the legs are ofprodigious strength, so that the O. is not onlycapable of nuiniug with great speed, but of strikingsuch a blow with its foot as to make it too for-midable for the leopard and other large beasts ofjjrey to assail it. It has been often known to ripopen a dog by a single stroke, and a man is recordedto have suffered the same fate. The eyes of the large, and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookpublisherphiladelphiajblipp
