BIRD COURTSHIP 55 



disappointed of his little family, did all the work 

 himself, sitting bravely and patiently day and night, 

 though nearly dead with exhaustion, till the chicks 

 were hatched out. The next time this pair of birds 

 had a nest, the cock's mind was firmly made up that 

 he would stand no more nonsense. He fought the 

 hen [kicked her], giving her so severe a thrashing 

 that she was all but killed, and this Petruchio-like 

 treatment had the desired effect, for the wife never 

 again rebelled, but sat submissively." 



In the case of another pair of ostriches of which 

 Mrs. Martin tells, the female was accidentally killed, 

 when the male mourned her loss for over two years, 

 and would not look at another female. He wan- 

 dered up and down, up and down, the length of his 

 camp, utterly disconsolate. At last he mated again 

 with a most magnificent hen, who ruled him tyran- 

 nically; he became the most hen-pecked, or rather 

 hen-kicked, of husbands. 



