4S A HISTORY OF 



it DO fron* a want of distinguishing by the taste what substances are fit 

 and what incapable of digestion ; certain it is, that in the ostrich dis- 

 sected bv Ranby, there appeared such a quantity of heterogeneous sub- 

 stances, "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 

 capacity of its stomach in order to be at ease ; but that nutritious sub- 

 stances not occurring, it pours in whatever offers to supply the void. 



In their native deserts, however, it is probable they live chiefly up- 

 on vegetables, where they lead an inoffensive and social life ; the 

 male, as Thevenot assures us, assorting with the female with connu- 

 bial 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 compression ; and 

 they lay very large eggs, some of them being above five inches in di- 

 ameter, 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 climate where the animal is 

 bred. In the northern parts of Africa, this season is about the 

 beginning of July ; in the south, it is about the latter end of Decem- 

 ber. These birds are very prolific, and lay generally from forty to fifty 

 eggs at one clutch. It has been commonly 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 themselves. 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 necessity for the continual incubation 

 of the female ; and she more frequently leaves her eggs, which are 

 in no fear of being chilled by the weather; but though she some- 

 times forsah.es 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 and 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 con- 

 trary, 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 defence. 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 cowred, assume 

 p different and more becoming plumage. 



