OSTRICHES. 37 



weeks be ])ullc'il nut with a pair of ])incers, after which the new feather begins to form. 

 Others aclvxicate a siiucially constnieteil box in which the bii'd cannot move; tliron!j;h 

 ojienings in the sides the wings are ac'cessil)le, anO, by a double movement of twisting 

 and pulling the feathers are drawn. 



The ostrich is monogamic, and the hen lays an egg every alternate day in the nest 

 dug out in tiie sand by the male, if that hollow can be termed a nest. Ten eggs are 

 jirobably the average number laid in the wild state, but in captivity the laying may be 

 continued like that of the common fowl when the eggs are taken away as soon as de- 

 ])Osited. On the "farm," the egg which the birds themselves cannot cover may be 

 hatched artificially in an incubator, the residt of which is illustrated by the following 

 extract from Douglas's book on " Ostrich Farming in South Africa " : "One set of three 

 birds — acock and two hens — during the period from June 30, 1872, to June 30, 

 1873, laid 188 eggs, which produced 133 chicks; of these IS died, leaving 115 young 

 birds. Of these, 74 were sold at three months old at £1G each, and allowing the 

 remaining 41 to be \\-orth only £12 each, we have a return of £1,076 from one set of 

 birds. The next year the same set laid 113 eggs, ]>roducing 77 chicks; and the first 

 six months of the third year they laid 07 eggs, jjroducing 81 chicks, being over 80 

 ]>er cent." The eggs vary consideralily in size, from 5^ inches to (i inches long, by 4^ 

 -b^ inches thick, averaging about the weight of l24 eggs of our connnon fowl. They 

 are inculcated by both parents alternately, the male sitting during the night. In the 

 liottest countries they are left during part of the day, but are then usually covered up 

 with sand. An interesting account of the finding of the nest is rendered by Rev. 5[r. 

 Tristram. 



" Once, and once only, had I the good fortune to take an ostrich's nest. We had 

 observed with our telescopes two birds standing for some time in one spot, and were 

 induced to ride towards them. By great good fortune we detected their track as we 

 crossed it; for, the stride of the ostrich often measuring, when at full s])eed, from 22 

 to 28 feet, and there being simply the round impression of his two toes, it is very 

 difficult to discover its course. We traced these steps back to the spot where we Lad 

 seen the birds standing, anil where the sand was well trodilen down. Two .Vrabs, at 

 once dismounting, begini to dig with their hands, and presently brought uj) four fine 

 fresh eggs, from a depth of about a foot under the warm sand." 



Ostrich fanning has not only been established in the Cape Colony, but also with 

 great success in Algeria, and in Buenos Ayres, where the African ostrich has been 

 introduced. There can be no doubt but that this industry may be carried on with 

 equal success and profit in our southwestern states, and it is to be hojiecl that the 

 experiments now in progress in California may give ample returns, and encourage 

 others to invest in this novel branch, of " ])ractical ornithology." 



That the range of the true ostriches at a former geologic.-d ])criod was considerably 

 larger than nowadays is proved by the rather recent discovery of fossil remains of a 

 species from the Siwalik Hills in India. It is named Strutliio asiaticus, and is dis- 

 tinguished by a stouter neck than the existing species, to which it otherwise is so 

 closely related that Mr. Lydekker thinks it doubtful whether the slight differences can 

 be regarded as of more than individual or varietal value. 



Though nearer related iierhajis to the African than to the Australian Struthiones, 

 the nandus or .South American ostriches arc sufficiently remote from all of them to 

 warrant their separation as a ilistinet super-family, the RIIEOIDK-E. With the latter 

 the nandus share the character of having three toes, as contrasted with the two toes of 



