Report of Council Meeting.



113



is none wilder than a fleet of these giant birds crowding all sail,

their towering masts raking gallantly, with every stitch of canvas

bellying to the breeze, as, like ships of the desert, they are bearing

down for some point in the ocean-like expanse.


The man who seeks to improve his acquaintance with the

desert-loving Ostrich will presently discover why it was that she was

created with a long neck. Like many other wary animals, she will

often suffer a waggon to approach very close before taking the alarm ;

but, generally speaking, her great range of vision renders approach

within moderate shot impossible otherwise than upon horseback.

Herding in troops of thirty, forty or more individuals of both sexes,

these giant birds inhabit the most sterile and desolate regions, com¬

monly associating with Burchell’s Zebra, and uniformly frequenting

the widest and most’naked plains, where their towering heads are as

far elevated above their four-footed companions, and above the

surrounding country, as to admit of their discovering objects at a

distance which renders them secure against the stealthy invasion

of man.


During the breeding season the South African Ostrich

associates himself with several females, which deposit their huge eggs

in one common nest, if we may so term a shallow cavity simply

scooped in the sand. No attempt at concealment is made, nor is the

smallest particle of any kind of material employed, the eggs being

nevertheless surrounded by a shallow embankment, and thus pre¬

vented from rolling away. The ground colour of the egg is pure

white marbled with clear yellow, and the number found in one place

has been known to exceed sixty, the hens continuing to lay during

the whole period of incubation. The chicks are about the size of a

pullet, and walk the moment they are out of the shell.



REPORT OF COUNCIL MEETING.


By kind permission of the Zoological Society, a Council

meeting was held at the Offices on January 24th.


There were present: Mr. Meade-Waldo (Chairman), Miss

R. Alderson, Dr. Graham Renshaw, Mr. Ezra, Hon. Mrs. Bourke,



