THE Emeu has the head and upper part of the neck thinly covered with slender black feathers; the general colour of its plumage is a grayish brown. The height of this bird, when his head is erect, is sometimes seven feet. They are extremely wild, and outstrip a greyhound in running. They are sometimes hunted for food, and their flesh is said to have much the flavour of beef. This bird is a native of New Holland only. Several of them have been carried to England, and they are bred in the royal park at Windsor.

The Rhea very much resembles the Ostrich, but is smaller, and is only found in South America.

THIS bird, with the preceding, is of the ostrich family; they resemble each other in many respects. The Cassowary, however, has a bony elevation upon the head, and wattles upon the neck, which the emeu has not. In several other particulars they are different. They agree in having three toes, pointing forward, while the ostrich has only two.

There was a Cassowary in Paris, which devoured four pounds of bread, six apples, and a bunch of carrots, and drank about two quarts of water, every day! It was a powerful bird, and seemed to dislike ragged people, and those dressed in red clothes. It kicked forward with its feet so vigorously as to render it dangerous to be in its

way.

THIS bird in size is nearly equal to the swan; the colour of the body is white, inclining to a pink hue; the beak is straight and long, with a sharp hook at the end; the skin of the lower part of the beak or mandible is so capable of distension, that it may contain a great weight of fish, and some say fifteen quarts of water. This pouch Providence has allowed to the bird that he may bring to his nest sufficient food for several days, and save himself the trouble of travelling through the air, and watching and diving so often for his food. It is a very indolent, inactive, and inelegant bird, often sitting whole days and nights on rocks or branches of trees motionless and in a melancholy posture till the resistless stimulus of hunger spurs him away; when thus incited to exertion, he flies from the spot, and,

raising himself thirty or forty feet above the surface of the sea, turns his head with one eye downward, and continues to fly in that attitude till he sees a fish sufficiently near the surface. He then darts down with astonishing swiftness, seizes it with unerring certainty, and stores it in his pouch. Having done this, he rises again, and continues the same process till he has procured a competent stock. The tale of its feeding its young with its own blood is now rejected as a vulgar error.

In South America, Pelicans are often rendered domestic, and are so trained that at command they go in the morning and return before night with their pouches distended with prey, part of which they are made to disgorge, while the rest is left to them for their trouble. The bird is said to live sometimes a hundred years.

THIS bird is a native of South America, very conspicuous for the bigness and shape of his bill. He is about the size of the magpie; but his beak is one-third as big as the rest of the body; the head is large and strong, and the neck short, in order the more easily to support the weight of such a beak.

The monkeys are his sworn enemies; they often attack his nest, but Providence has allotted him a head and a beak of such a size, as to fill up the whole entrance of his habitation; and when the plunderer approaches, the bird gives him such a rough welcome, that the monkey is glad to run away. This monstrous bill serves another useful purpose; for, when seen peeping out of the nest, it makes other animals suppose that a much larger and more powerful bird inhabits the well guarded mansion.