OSTRICH 



HIM 



OSWEGO 



country with other families in small groups or 

 large flock-. Kadi female deposits about ten 

 eggs in a circular hollow which the head of the 

 family has scooped out of the ground with his 

 toes. The eggs weigh about three pounds each 

 equivalent to two or three dozen of our 

 breakfast eggs and have shells so thick and 

 strong that they serve the African natives as 

 bowls and cups. Some of the eggs in the nest 

 are intended as food for the young chicks, and 

 many of the others are broken before the 

 hatching; so that a brood is seldom larger than 

 thirty chicks. Natives are very fond of eating 

 ostrich eggs, but they are difficult to steal be- 

 cause the old birds are such vicious and power- 

 ful fie! 



The male assumes full responsibility for the 

 hatching and safe-keeping of the eggs, sitting 

 upon the nest at night with the hens grouped 

 about him. In hot climates he covers it with 

 sand in the daytime, depending upon the heat 

 of the sun to keep it warm, but remaining close 

 by to guard it. In this duty he is relieved from 

 time to time by the hens. Lacking the hot sun 

 and sand of African deserts, the domesticated 

 birds brood upon the eggs all day as well as 

 during the night. In from six to seven weeks 

 the young ostriches emerge, already as large as 

 one of our ordinary barnyard hens and with 

 good appetites. If their hunger is abundantly 

 -Tied, they mature so quickly that by the 

 end of six months they have attained full 

 growth. Wild ostriches subsist on grass, leaves, 

 seeds and fruit, small birds and insects, with 

 water whenever it can be procured, while those 

 in captivity are fed mostly upon alfalfa and 

 grain. The ostrich swallows any sort of hard, 

 gritty material that comes in its path, such as 

 stones, glass, bones and the like. These are 

 used as other birds use gravel, to assist in the 

 work of digestion. 



Ostrich Farming. The ostrich has been reared 

 in captivity for many years in Cape Colony, 

 Algeria and Argentina, for a number of years in 

 Arizona and Southern California, and more re- 

 cently in Arkansas, Texas, Florida and Pennsyl- 

 vania. Though the birds usually keep healthy 

 and are rapid breeders, they are such voracious 

 eaters that they 'prove an unprofitable invest- 

 ment when changes of fashion or interference 

 with commerce (as during the War of the 

 Nations) affects the market for plumes. Birds 

 that originally were valued at S150 could be 

 purchased for $5 after the outbreak of the great 

 war. The plumes are taken from the bird about 

 every seven months, but they are cut off, not 



pulled out, as many people suppose. The 



stumps of the severed feathers are taken out a 

 few days later, that new ones may grow in 

 their place. In normal years the value of the 

 plumes obtained in one plucking varies from 

 $20 to $50 for each bird. As the ostrich may 

 live for eighty years, it will be seen that ostrich 

 farming is a lucrative occupation when there is 

 a demand for plumes. I..M.B. 



Consul* Martin's Iloinr Life ( >n <tn Ostrich 

 Farm; Mosenthal and Harting's Ostricli* H <tnd 

 Ostrich Fannhiy. 



OS'TROGOTHS. See subhead, in article 

 GOTHS. 



OS WE 'GO, N. Y., the most important port 

 of entry on the southern shore of Lake On- 

 tario, one of the largest shipping points on the 

 Great Lakes for anthracite coal, and a terminus 

 of the New York State Barge Canal (which 

 see). It is the county seat of Oswego County 

 and is situated at the mouth of the Oswego 

 River. Syracuse is thirty-five miles southeast, 

 by rail. The Delaware, Lacka wanna & West- 

 ern, the New York Central and the New York, 

 Ontario & Western railways provide transpor- 

 tation, and steamers communicate with other 

 lake and Saint Lawrence River ports. In 1910 

 the population was 23,368; by 1916 it had in- 

 creased to 24,101 (Federal estimate). The 

 area of the city is about five square miles. 



Oswego is beautifully located on ground 

 slightly elevated above the lake, and is divided 

 into two sections by the Oswego River. Hand- 

 some residences, beautiful parks, broad, regular 

 streets and delightful drives, which extend 

 along both banks of the river and continue on 

 the shore of the lake, combine to make the 

 city unusually attractive. The harbor is de- 

 fended by Fort Ontario, and has an outer and 

 an inner haven which will accommodate the 

 largest vessels; immense trestles facilitate the 

 handling of extensive shipments of coal, grain 

 and lumber. When grain from the West was 

 sent to Eastern mills to be converted into flour, 

 Oswego was one of the chief manufacturing 

 and shipping centers for this product. With the 

 growth of the milling industry nearer the wheat 

 fields, the making of flour declined in Oswego, 

 and the excellent water power furnished by 

 the thirty-five foot fall of the river and in- 

 creased by the construction of five dams in the 

 vicinity was used in manufacturing a great 

 variety of commodities. 



For many years the name of the town hah 

 been associated with starch; the city has one 

 of the largest cornstarch factories in the world, 



