Ostrich
“The Ostrich is the largest of all living birds, standing from six to eight feet in height, and has been known from remote antiquity; Xenophon mentions it in the “Anabasis” as found in the plains of Artemisia, and there are frequent references to it in later Roman literature. Hunters report that the flesh is palatable. The ostrich is hunted and bred for the sake of the quill feathers of the wings and tail.The Ostrich is a vegetable feeder, but swallows stones, bits of iron, and other hard substances to aid the gizzard in its functions. On ostrich farms newly hatched birds have been observed to pick up little stones before taking any food. The wings are useless for flight, but of so much assistance in running that the bird can outstrip the fleetest horse."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)
Keywords
bird, ostrich, kostrich, vegetable feeder, largest of living birds, swallows stones to aid gizzard, wings useless for flightGalleries
Birds: M-OSource
Everybody's Cyclopedia (New York, NY: Syndicate Publishing Company, 1912)
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