L64 



THE OSTRICH. 



to keep the coats of their stomach asunder, 

 or whether it be from a want of distinguish- 

 ing by the taste what substances are fit and 

 what incapable of digestion; certain it is, 

 that in the ostrich dissected by Ranby there 

 appeared such a quantity of heterogeneous 

 substances, that it was wonderful how any 

 animal could digest such an overcharge of 

 nourishment. Valisnieri also found the first 

 stomach filled with a quantity of incongruous 

 substances; grass, nuts, cords, stones, glass, 

 brass, copper, iron, tin, lead, and wood ; a 

 piece of stone was found among the rest, that 

 weighed more than a pound. He saw one of 

 these animals that was killed by devouring a 

 quantity of quick-lime. It would seem that 

 the ostrich is obliged to fill up the great ca- 

 pacity of its stomach, in order to be at ease ; 

 but that nutritious substances not occurring, 

 it pours in whatever offers to supply the void. 



In their native deserts, however, it is pro- 

 bable they live chiefly upon vegetables, where 

 they lead an inoffensive and social life ; the 

 male, as Thevenot assures us, assorting with 

 the female with connubial fidelity. They are 

 said to be very much inclined to venery ; 

 and the make of the parts in both sexes seems 

 to confirm the report. It is probable also 

 they copulate, like other birds, by compres- 

 sion; and they lay very large eggs, some of 

 them being above five inches in diameter, and 

 weighing above fifteen pounds. These eggs 

 have a very hard shell, somewhat resembling 

 those of the crocodile, except that those of 

 the latter are less and rounder. 



The season for laying depends on the cli- 

 mate where the animal is bred. In the north- 

 ern parts of Africa, this season is about the 

 beginning of July; in the south, it is about 

 the latter end of December. These birds are 

 very prolific, and lay generally from forty to 

 fifty eggs at one clutch. It has been com- 

 monly reported that the female deposits them 

 in the sand; and, covering them up, leaves 

 them to be hatched by the heat of the climate, 

 and then permits the young to shift for them- 

 selves. Very little of this, however, is true: 

 no bird has a stronger affection for her young 

 than the ostrich, nor none watches her eggs 

 with greater assiduity. It happens, indeed, 

 in those hot climates, that there is less ne- 

 cessity for the continual incubation of the fe- 



j male ; and she more frequently leaves her 

 | eggs, which are in no fear of being chilled by 

 the weather: but though she sometimes for- 

 sakes them by day, she always carefully 

 broods over them by night; and Kolben, who 

 has seen great numbers of them at the Cape 

 of Good Hope, affirms that they sit on their 

 eggs like other birds, and that the male arid 

 female take this office by turns, as he had 

 frequent opportunities of observing. Nor is 

 it more true what is said of their forsaking 

 their young after they are excluded the shell. 

 On the contrary, the young ones are not even 

 able to walk for several days after they are 

 hatched. During this time, the old ones are 

 very assiduous in supplying them with grass, 

 and very careful to defend them from danger; 

 nay, they encounter every danger in their de- 

 fence. It was a way of taking them among 

 the ancients, to plant a number of sharp 

 stakes round the ostrich's nest in her absence, 

 upon which she pierced herself at her return. 

 The young, when brought forth, are of an ash- 

 colour the first year, and are covered with 

 feathers all over. But, in time, these feathers 

 drop; and those parts which are covered as- 

 sume a different aaitJ more becoming plummy. 

 The beauty of a part of this plumage, par- 

 ticularly the long feathers that compose the 

 wings and tail, is the chief reason that man 

 has been so active in pursuing this harmless 

 bird to its deserts, and hunting it with no 

 small degree of expense and labour. The 

 ancients used those plumes in their helmets; 

 the ladies of the East make them an orna- 

 ment in their dress; and, among us, our un- 

 dertakers and our fine gentlemen still make 

 use of them, to decorate their hearses and 

 their hats, those feathers which are pluck- 

 ed from the animal while alive, are much 

 more valued than those taken when dead ; 

 the latter being dry, light, and subject to be 

 worm-eaten. 



Beside the value of their plumage, some of 

 the savage nations of Africa hunt them also 

 for their flesh, which they consider as a 

 dainty. They sometimes also breed these 

 birds tame, to eat the young ones, of which 

 the female is said to be the greatest delicacy. 

 Some nations have obtained the name of 

 Struthophagi, or ostrich-eaters, from their 

 peculiar fondness for this food ; and even the 



