OSTRICHES. 117 



with wliich the two birds, sitting alternately on the 

 eggs, came on and off at their fixed times. The cock 

 always takes his place upon the nest at sundown, and 

 sits through the night — his dark plumage making 

 him much less conspicuous than the light-coloured hen ; 

 with his superior strength and courage, too, he is a 

 better defender of the nest against midniofht marauders. 

 At nine in the morning, with unfailing punctuality, 

 the hen comes to relieve him, and take up her position 

 for the day. At the end of the six weeks of sitting, 

 both birds, faithfully as the task has been shared 

 between them, are in a very enfeebled state, and 

 miserably poor and thin. 



One undutiful hen — having apparently imbibed ad- 

 vanced notions — absolutely refused to sit at all; and the 

 poor husband, determined not to be disappointed of his 

 little family, did all the work himself ; sitting bravely 

 and patiently day and night, though nearly dead with 

 exhaustion, till the chicks were hatched out. The next 

 time this pair of birds had a nest, the cock's mind was 

 firmly made up that he would stand no more nonsense. 

 He fought the hen ; giving her so severe a thrashing 

 that she was all but killed — and this Petruchio-like 

 treatment had the desired efiect, for the wife never 

 again rebelled, but sat submissively. 



Very different from this couple were the Darby and 

 Joan in the camp opposite our windows. One unlucky 

 morning the hen, frightened by a Kaffir's dog, ran into 

 the wire fence, and was so terribly injured that she 

 had to be killed. For two years poor Darby was a dis- 



