OSTRICH 



4423 



OSTRICH 



curious-looking member of the winged family 

 that it is easy to understand why the ancients 

 should have called it the camel bird. Not only 

 is the camel suggested by its appearance and 

 peculiar humping gait, but by its power of 

 going for a long time without water a faculty 

 very necessary to its existence, in view of the 

 fact that the persecutions of hunters have 

 driven it for the most part to the dry plains 

 and sandy de>. 



The ostrich is a native of Africa and Asia, 

 and in former times great flocks grazed over 

 both continents practically undisturbed, 

 when the Arabs chased them for sport or Afri- 

 can natives stole the eggs for eating or killed 



OSTRICHES. EGGS AND CHICK 

 The little ostrich is three days old and about 

 ten inches tall. 



a few birds for feathers with which to adorn 

 du-ky bodies. They have never been 

 killed for food, as tin n>h is coarse and un- 

 savory. Ever since the ostrich plume became 

 le article of commerce, hmvrvrr. the 

 l>n I has been hunted with such persistence, ami 

 exported in Mich numbers to stock ostrich farms 

 in other places, that it is now practically e\tm< -t 

 haunts save m tin leas accessible 

 regions. 



Physical Characteristics. A full-grown ostrich 

 stands seven to eight f. . t Inch and weighs be- 

 tween 200 and 300 pounds. I'nlik- other birds, 

 it has only two toes the third and the fourth. 

 The South American r/ica, called the American 



ostrich, is distinguished from the true African 

 variety by the possession of an additional toe. 

 The eyes of the ostrich are very large and the 

 neck about three feet in length, giving the bird 

 a range of vision which enables it to detect 

 danger at a distance of several miles. So pow- 

 erful are its long, thick legs that the kick of an 

 ostrich can disable and even kill horses as well 

 as men. Both legs and thighs are perfectly bare 

 of feathers, and the head and neck are covered 

 only with a sparse growth of down; it is the 

 body, with the beautiful fluffy plumage, that 

 has been the source of the bird's commercial 

 value. The female is modest in an unassum- 

 ing dress of dull gray and white or brownish- 

 gray feathers, but the male is a most handsome 

 creature, with a glossy black body and wing 

 and tail plumes pure white in color. His voice 

 does not match his costume in beauty, how. 

 for it is like a deep-toned roar, similar to that 

 of a lion or ox, with a peculiar hissing quality; 

 it adds greatly to the comfort of those near him 

 that he is far from being a talkative bird. 



Its Remarkable Swiftness. In his essay on 

 Dryden, Macaulay wrote, "His imagination re- 

 sembled the wings of an ostrich; it enabled 

 him to run, though not to soar." The short 

 wings of the ostrich, with their beautiful 

 plumes, are quite useless for flight, but they 

 help lift its weight from the ground; and the 

 momentum thus gained combines with the run- 

 ning power of its sturdy legs to give it the 

 amazing stride of twenty-five feet when in full 

 flight. It can cover sixty miles an hour, out- 

 stripping the fleetest Arabian horse. On the 

 ostrich farms of the Pacific coast races are fre- 

 quently held between trained ostriches, and 

 these are said to be far more exciting than 

 Innse races. Visitors are also entertained by 

 the spectacle of some employee of the ranch 

 riding "ostrich back" and being carried past as 

 though on the wings of the wind. 



The ostrich is unusually wary as well as 

 speedy, but the weakness which makes it a 

 victim of hunters is a lack of self-possession 

 and good sense which causes it. when pursued, 

 to run in a circle. Thus, while a single horse- 

 man cannot overtake it. a number are :tbl. 

 surrounding and closing in upon their prey, to 

 capture it with a lasso or kill it with spear, 



The old belief that an OM 



hides ttl in a.l in the sand when threatened with 

 danger is only a fable. 



Its Family Life. The wild ostrich is a biga- 

 mist, with from two to seven hens, and he is 

 also a sociable creature, traveling about 



