OSTRICHES. 37 



weeks be pulled out with a pair of pincers, after which the new feather begins to form. 

 Others advocate a specially constructed box in which the bird cannot move; through 

 openings in the sides the wings are accessible, and, by a double movement of twisting 

 and pulling the feathers are drawn. 



The ostrich is monogamic, and the hen lays an egg every alternate day in the nest 

 dug out in the sand by the male, if that hollow can be termed a nest. Ten eggs are 

 probably the average number laid in the wild state, but in captivity the laying may be 

 continued like that of the common fowl when the eggs are taken away as soon as de- 

 posited. On the " farm," the egg which the birds themselves cannot cover may be 

 hatched artificially in an incubator, the result of which is illustrated by the following 

 extract from Douglas's book on " Ostrich Farming in South Africa " : "One set of three 

 birds acock and two hens during the period from June 30, 1872, to June 30, 

 1873, laid 188 eggs, which produced 133 chicks ; of these 18 died, leaving 115 young 

 birds. Of these, 74 were sold at three months old at 16 each, and allowing the 

 remaining 41 to be worth only 12 each, we have a return of 1,670 from one set of 

 birds. The next year the same set laid 113 eggs, producing 77 chicks; and the first 

 six months of the third year they laid 97 eggs, producing 81 chicks, being over 80 

 per cent." The eggs vary considerably in size, from 5|- inches to 6 inches long, by 4^ 

 -5|- inches thick, averaging about the weight of 24 eggs of our common fowl. They 

 are incubated by both parents alternately, the male sitting during the night. In the 

 hottest countries they are left during part of the day, but are then usually covered up 

 with sand. An interesting account of the finding of the nest is rendered by Rev. Mr. 

 Tristram. 



" Once, and once only, had I the good fortune to take an ostrich's nest. We had 

 observed with our telescopes two birds standing for some time in one spot, and were 

 induced to ride towards them. By great good fortune we detected their track as we 

 crossed it; for, the stride of the ostrich often measuring, when at full speed, from 22 

 to 28 feet, and there being simply the round impression of his two toes, it is veiy 

 difficult to discover its course. We traced these steps back to the spot Avhere we had 

 seen the birds standing, and where the sand was well trodden down. Two Arabs, at 

 once dismounting, began to dig with their hands, and presently brought up four fine 

 fresh eggs, from a depth of about a foot under the warm sand." 



Ostrich farming has not only been established in the Cape Colony, but also with 

 great success in Algeria, and in Buenos Ayres, where the African ostrich has been 

 introduced. There can be no doubt but that this industry may be carried on with 

 equal success and profit in our southwestern states, and it is to be hoped that the 

 experiments now in progress in California may give ample returns, and encourage 

 others to invest, in this novel branch of " practical ornithology." 



That the range of the true ostriches at a former geological period was considerably 

 larger than nowadays is proved by the rather recent discovery of fossil remains of a 

 species from the Siwalik Hills in India. It is named Struthio asiaticus, and is dis- 

 tinguished by a stouter neck than the existing species, to which it otherwise is so 

 closely related that Mr. Lydekker thinks it doubtful whether the slight differences can 

 be regarded as of more than individual or varietal value. 



Though nearer related perhaps to the African than to the Australian Struthiones, 

 the nandus or South American ostriches are sufficiently remote from all of them to 

 Avarrant their separation as a distinct super-family, the RHEOIDE^E. With the latter 

 the nandus share the character of having three toes, as contrasted with the two toes of 



