THE OSTRICH. 291 



them with water, living as they did in vast plains, where 

 water was not common ; but as it is confined to the male, 

 this supposition seems to be erroneous, 

 unless, when the female is confined to 

 her nest, her mate provides her with 

 water from this reservoir. 



We come now to the last tribe in the 

 gallinaceous order, consisting of birds 

 altogether foreign, of very peculiar 

 habits : these, as far as wings and flight 

 are concerned, having scarcely a right 

 to be classed amongst birds, as they 

 never quit the ground, and know nothing 



of the power possessed by others of the feathered race, of 

 soaring aloft, and fleeing away like the Dove, should they wish 

 to seek for food, or repose, in a distant country. These birds 

 are the Ostrich, the Emu or the Cassowary, and one or two 

 others little known. 



Of these the Ostrich is the most common ; its beautiful light 

 plumes have long been used as ornaments in ladies' head- 

 dresses ; and to this probably, as it was diligently sought after 

 as a valuable prize to the captor, we are indebted for all we 

 know of its natural history, though still much remains un- 

 known, for no bird has been more misrepresented ; first, as a 

 parent, who, after laying her eggs in the desert, left them to 

 be hatched by the sun, and cherished no affection for her 

 young. This, indeed, is the character she bore in the ancient 

 days of the prophet Jeremiah, who compares the Ostrich to the 

 unnatural mothers of Zion : " Even the sea monsters draw out 

 the breast, they give suck to their young ones ; the daughter 

 of my people is become cruel, like the Ostriches in the wilder- 

 ness " (Lam. iv. 3). It is certainly true, that she does lay her 

 eggs in the desert, leaving them by day to the warmth of a 

 burning sun; but no sooner does the evening set in, than 

 swiftly she hastens across the wild tracts of sand, over which 

 she has, throughout the day, been wandering in search of a 

 scanty supply of food, and all night long she covers them with 

 the tenderest care. 



