OSTRICH 



STRUTHIO MASAICUS 

 Swahili : Mbussi. Masai : Sidai 



THIS fine bird may be counted as game, 

 I take it, although it is not found in 

 many books on the subject, but every 

 one is anxious to shoot his maximum 

 number — two — for the sake of the feathers, to 

 give away to "his sisters, and his cousins, and his 

 aunts," let us hope ! 



They are hardly worth shooting except when 

 they are in full plumage, which is, I fancy, in 

 November and May, that is, in the rains. A cock 

 ostrich, as every one knows, is black-and-white ; 

 the hens, which one may not shoot, are light 

 brown— the " natural colour " of furriers. A cock 

 ostrich in full plumage is easily distinguished 

 through glasses, as he has a red neck. If one is 

 lucky enough to bag one " at six hundred yards 

 running," this redness will be found to be in the 

 skin, which has a covering of a nature more 

 hairy than feathery. Excellent oil can be ex- 

 tracted from an ostrich by boiling down the fat, 

 of which there is any quantity. It is excellent 



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