2330 THE TINAMUS, FLIGHTLESS BIRDS, ETC. 



individuals, although in the northern parts of the continent the flocks are stated to 

 be smaller. In Southern Africa they frequently associate with herds of wildebeest 

 and hartbeest; and their keen sight and wary nature, coupled with their unrivaled 

 speed, render them almost the most difficult of all animals to capture. Outstripping 

 the swiftest African antelopes in speed, the ostrich, in cool weather, could indeed 

 easily escape from any horseman, were it not for its foolish habit of running in a 

 circle, and thus allowing shots to be easily obtained. In running at speed the ostrich 

 spreads its wings, and the distances it can traverse are enormous; indeed, during 

 the daytime it is continually on the move. In the neighborhood of the sea or lakes 

 ostriches are reported to be in the habit of bathing during the hot season, when 

 parties have been seen standing up to their necks in water, and salt of some kind 

 seems absolutely essential to their existence. 



The digestion of an ostrich is proverbial; and while in their general diet these 

 birds are practically omnivorous, they are likewise in the habit of swallowing 

 stones, sand, bones, or even pieces of metal, to aid in the trituration of their food. 

 In captivity this habit probably becomes abnormally developed, and there are in- 

 stances where even the constitution of an ostrich could not resist the effects of 

 some of the substances swallowed. Among the ordinary food of the ostrich are com- 

 prised small mammals and birds, snakes, lizards, and insects, as well as grass, leaves, 

 fruits, berries, and seeds. Although they can go for protracted periods without it, 

 and will not wander far out of their way to procure it, yet when water is at hand, 

 ostriches will drink constantly. Young ostriches are said to be silent, but the old 

 cocks utter a loud cry, which is likened by Livingstone to the roar of the lion, and 

 by Canon Tristram to the lowing of oxen; this cry being generally uttered in the 

 early morning. The ostrich's chief mode of attack or defense is by kicking with its 

 immensely powerful legs, although, in the fights in which the cocks periodically in- 

 dulge, the birds also peck at one another with their beaks. . 



Much interest attaches to the breeding habits of the ostrich, although from 

 many of the accounts having been derived from native sources, very erroneous no- 

 tions are prevalent on this subject. At the pairing season, which takes place early 

 in the spring, each cock, after having gone through various performances to attract 

 their attention, and frequently many contests with his rivals, associates with three 

 or four hens. All these hens lay in a single nest, which consists solely of a large 

 hollow excavated in the sand. There is still some uncertainty as to the number of 

 eggs laid in a nest, although there is little doubt that this has been much exagger- 

 ated. As many as twenty are, however, frequently incubated; but in addition to 

 these it appears that a certain number are deposited round the edge of the nest, 

 which are never intended to be hatched, and are stated to serve as food for the 

 young. Although it is generally stated that both sexes take equal shares in the 

 work of incubation, this is incorrect, the cock bird (as among all the other members 

 of the subclass) undertaking almost the entire task. He sits, for instance, through- 

 out the night, when the nest must be protected from prowling jackals; and in such 

 regions, as the eggs are incubated by day as well as by night, he is only relieved for 

 short periods during the day in order to procure food. Incubation during the 

 day takes place, however, only in the cooler districts of the ostrich's habitat; in 



