STRTITHIONIDJ]. 



415 



that cases occur in which the females have the entire 

 charge. Several eggs lie out of the nest, and are thought 

 to be intended as food for the first of the newly-hatched 

 brood, till the rest come out, and enable the whole to 

 start in quest of food. I have seen several times newly- 

 hatched young in charge of the male bird, who made a 

 very good attempt to appear lame in the Plover fashion, 

 in order to draw off the attention of pursuers. The 

 young squat down and remain immoveable, when too 



small to run far, but attain a wonderful degree of speed 

 when about the size of common fowls. It cannot be 

 asserted that Ostriches are polygamous, though they 

 appear to be so. The egg is possessed of great vital 

 power ; one kept in a room during more than three 

 months, in a temperature about 60°, when broken, was 

 found to have a partially developed live chick in it. The 

 food of the Ostrich consists of leaves of various kinds, 

 with pods, seeds of different species of leguminous plants ; 

 and as these are often hard and dry, he picks up a gi'eat 

 quantity of pebbles, many of which are as large as 



