THE OSTRICH " GROUP.''

Bruce Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 2265, 15 May 1891, Page 3

THE OSTRICH " GROUP.''

The ostriches as a group (using the phrase in the widest sense, to include rheas, emus, cassowaries, and' kiwis) may: be regarded as to some extent degenerate descendants of flying birds, in whom the 'wings and all other organs that r assist in flight have been reduced to the very lowest possible proportions. They have a flat breastbone, without any keel for the ., attachment of the useless' wing-muscle'B \ and they have vbry small wings, which are only of use as sails' to assist them in running ;. but tieir legs aife large, powerful, and almost •disproportioned,' 'and they can race faster than/ the swiftest horses. The feathers 'sufficiently prove, however, that thry are descendedfrjonroriginally flying ancestors ; while, £t the same time, the very character ' which' makes the plumes so valuable as decorative objects, prpves how thoroughly degraded, their 'structure has become from the primitive' purpose. For in Ordinary feathere, especially those of the pinion, the barbs are fastened together by means of little cross-hooks, or barbules (as they are' technically qalle'd), so'as to affford a firmand Compact surface for support in flying ; but, in the ostrich kind, the' plumesaee pendant, loose, atid downj, without any barbules to knit them together, and the pinions have degenerated into mere ornarnenta adjuncts, chiefly of use in the economy of nature as 'a means, of support for court dressmakers. Id the emus and cassowaries, 'again', the. degradation of the feathering goes a step further; for among these' very 'terrestial birds the whiirs have no plumes at all .externally visible, but only a few stiff horny shafts, like porcupine quills, the stumps or relics of ' disused quill-feathers. And over the body' in general the feathers, which are double, are very stiff and hair-, like, so,. as to form merely a shaggy coat, or p'rtiteetio'n'aga'irist the weat'ber, with little'suggestion left of their original' p'uVpose as' 'parachutes in "Hying, In the feiwi or apteryx, ho&ever, this tendency, to degeneratibh'in the feathery covering reaches' its furthest point. The existing species fall far short of the cassowaries in size, never exceeding a height of tw;o' feef; but they are the most ABSOLUTELY UNBIKDLIKE OF c LIVING BIEDB, having lost almost every trace of the flying habit a d ajl that is implied in it. To look at, they seem like great balls of fluff] as innocent of fore-limbs as Miss 'Biffin herself.. Their wihps are reduced! tci ' mere abortive relics, arid are so very; small thaVeveh when you hunt closefdrj thejm, yb'u' cannot find them without resorting to strong measures, and cuttiog up the bird to prove their existence.. plumage is wiry, much iriore closely resembling hair than feathers ; it covers 1 th ; e body like a coat of thatch, and the | wliole aspect of the bjack,', uncanriy| creature" strangely recallfl the gh T os|t-like! shape' 'of many ' nocturnal forestinei mammals. !Eor the kiwis are essentiaily| 'prowlers by iiient, of timid habits andi reserved disposition : they live entirely on a. light regimen of earthworms, wpich they\gru.b up put of the ground with' ceaseless effort ana their long bills, and they "can run as 'ias>& as J most. others of .their family. Ix 6 less than four distinct species or these extraprninary creatures live side Dy side in New Zaal^nd, wnere 'they 1 move about 'like 'spectres in {he| twilight, hunting fo^ food with | beaked, snouts amqng^he ferns, andj mosses'.— From'" Big Birds," 1 in 'tihei Cbrnhill Magazine.. , . ,