G. GENERAL NATURAL HISTORY AND ZOOLOGY. 193 



these species were for a long time considered to be the same, 

 and their distinctness was first suggested by the marked dif- 

 ference in the texture of the egg. In a recent work by Hart- 

 laub and Finsch on the birds of Eastern Africa, it is shown 

 that, contrary to the general assumption, the ostrich, proba- 

 bly that of Northern Africa, if not, indeed, a third species, 

 was known at a very remote period in Central Asia, and per- 

 haps even in India; and that at the present time it occurs 

 wild in Syria, Arabia, and Mesopotamia, where, in fact, it was 

 mentioned by the earliest writers, among them Herodotus, 

 Aristotle, Diodorus, etc. 17 (7, 1870, 380. 



BREEDING OSTEICHES IX CAPTIVITY. 



The many efforts made in Europe to breed ostriches in a 

 state of captivity have finally resulted in success, the Zoo- 

 logical Garden of Florence being the happy possessor at the 

 present time of several healthy young birds. The stock con- 

 sisted originally of one male bird, and of one old and one 

 young female. One set of eggs was laid in 1868, but these 

 did not hatch. In March of 1869 the laying commenced 

 anew, and first one female and then the other deposited her 

 eggs in the same nest until the number amounted to ten. 

 These were then brooded upon in the daytime by the male, 

 and in his absence occasionally by the older female, the 

 younger one showing great reluctance to approach the nest 

 excepting at night and in the colder weather, when the eggs 

 were divided among the three, each brooding over its share. 

 In the morning, however, when the females left their nests, 

 the male bird drew to himself, with his bill, the eggs which 

 had been covered by the older female. The younger one, 

 however, always took up a position so far from the others 

 that the male bird could not reach her eggs, and the attend- 

 ants of the museum were obliged to push them near to him. 

 The brooding lasted until the 27th of June, when the female 

 remained quietly sitting on the eggs, the male running around 

 the park in a very vicious manner. In a short time five os- 

 triches made their appearance around the old bird, the re- 

 maining eggs producing nothing. One of the five young 

 birds died, apparently from overeating, but the remaining 

 four were in good condition at the latest report, and likely to 

 attain maturity. Should it be found practicable to raise os- 



I 



