Short Notices. 133 



general belief that the Ostrich would not sit in captivity. 

 In 1880 the Colony's export of feathers was 163,065 lbs., of 

 which about one-eighth was from wild birds; in 1904 the 

 amount had risen to 470,381 lbs., all, practically, derived 

 from domesticated specimens. In 1891 the Census returned 

 154,880 tame birds in the Colony ; in 1904 357,970 !!! 



A Thread- worm, " Yellow-liver" (an infectious fever) , Tape- 

 worm, " Ostrich-fly " (a parasite of which the life-history is 

 not yet understood), and Lice appear to be the chief disease 

 to which the domesticated birds are subject. 



Two well-defined methods of Ostrich-farming are followed : 

 the one by grazing the birds on fields of lucerne under 

 cultivation, and the other by letting them run wild in large 

 enclosures of three thousand acres or upwards. The former 

 method supports five birds to the acre, and is centred round 

 the Oudtshoorn district; the latter mode requires a range of 

 from ten to twenty acres for each bird, and is mainly adopted 

 on the coast west of East London and in the large river- 

 valleys. 



The value of feathers exported in 1904 was £1,058,988, 

 about £3 10.S. Qd. per head of feather-producing birds. As 

 much as £1000 has been paid for a good pair for breeding- 

 purposes. If well managed Avith skill and knowledge, the 

 business is undoubtedly a promising and lucrative one for a 

 farmer with sufficient capital to cover the initial outlay. 



2. " On a small Collection of Birds from the Vicinity of Lake 



Menzalah in the Delta of Egypt." By W. L. S. Loat, 

 F.Z.S. 



3. '•' Ornithological Results of the Scottish National Antarctic 



Expedition.— II. On the Birds of the South Orkney 



Islands." By Wm. Eagle Clarke, F.R.S.E., F.L.S., 



Royal Scottish Museum. 



This paper is a continuation of Part I. of the description of 



the Ornithological results of the expedition, which dealt with 



the Avifauna of Gough Island, near Tristan da Cunha, in the 



South Atlantic ['Ibis,' April, 1905, pp. 247-2G8J. The 



previous paper was, perhaps, worthy of remark, as although 



