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SUBKINGDOM VEKTEBKATA. 



for its beautiful plumes, which have been prized as an adorn 

 ment from time immemorial. 



Struthw camelus, African Ostrich. 



riders, and by pursuing in a straight line while the bird runs in a curve. One male 

 accompanies two to six females who lay in one nest. The hens take turns in sitting 

 during the day, thus enabling the others to travel the long distances necessary to get 

 rood in that desert country, without leaving the nest uncovered. The male assumes 

 'he task of incubation at night when his superior strength is needed to drive oft 

 prowling animals, which are sometimes found lying dead near the nest, killed by its 

 powerful kick. As the young cannot for some time go far, or digest the hard food 

 of the old ones, the females continue to lay extra eggs for their nourishment. In 

 this entire system of incubation one can but see the nice planning of a Creator, 

 fruitful in methods for meeting an end by varied means. An Ostrich egg is equal to 

 two dozen of those of the domestic hen. It is cooked by placing one end in the hot 

 ashes and making a small orifice in the other, stirring the contents with a bit of 

 stick till the omelette is roasted. In Cape Colony there are now Ostrich-farms 

 where these birds are reared for their plumes, which are plucked every eight months. 



