214 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



it, in walkinj^". an easy, mincing- motion, snggv^tive of the great 

 speed which it can attain when running. 



Uoth the emeus and the Ostriches have a remarkable dance, 

 which is sometimes practiced instinctively by mere chicks. It is 

 a startling sight — yet one which can be seen almost every spring- 

 day in our Zoological Park — to see two of these great birds start 

 at oi)posite ends of their corral and begin whirling round and 

 round until they bec(Mue almost a l)lur, the centrifugal force rais- 

 ing them u])on their ver\- toe-ti])s. like ballet dancers. Little by 

 little the\' a])])roaeli, wings whirring round, witlely extended, 

 when. suddenK' they stop, facing each other, mouths open, 

 reaching u]) eight or nine feet into the air. 



( )strich plumes are the onlv feathers which come to our mil- 

 linerv stores imstained 1)\ the nuu"der of their owners. In L'a\)Q 

 Colony, southern California, Arizona and other ])laces, large 

 ostrich farms have been established, and the annual product of 

 ostrich ])lumes commands so high a price that these farms have 

 proven quite profitable. The existence of the species will be pro- 

 longed by the fact that they breed readily in ca])tivity. Even yet, 

 many birds are killed for their feathers: but, roaming as some of 

 them do, far into the African deserts, it is to be hoped that their 

 total disappearance in a wild state may be long delayed. 



It is stated that in i^()2 the first attempt at ostrich-farming was 

 made in the Cape Colony. Three years later only eighty tame 

 birds were reported ; but so great was the final success of the 

 experiment that in 1875 '^ was estimated that there were 50,000 

 ( )striches in confinement in South Africa. Since that date the 

 number has more than doul)led. In 1S75 the feather ])roduct was 

 reported worth about $2,000,000, and from the years iSSi to iScS^ 

 the value of the "crop" was estiinatetl at about $5,000,000 a year, 

 from South Africa alone. In addition to the above, Egypt ex- 

 ports feathers aunualK' to the amount of ;il)oui Si ._'5(),()00 : and 

 the r.arbar\- States about $100,000 worth. 



A hen ( )strich will lay about ninety eggs in a year; and from 

 these about sixty chicks will hatch, worth on emergence from the 

 shell al)Out twenty-five dollars apiece. .\t six months tluir \alue 

 amounts to from seventy-five to a hundred dollars a l)ir(l. The 

 •eggs of cajjtive birds are usually hatched in a large incubator, the 

 time of incubation being about forty days. The chicks have 

 none of the ungainliness of their parents, but are well-propor- 

 -.tioned and are covered with a flelicate speckled down. 



Let us hope that the ease with which thest- bin Is are reared 

 3n cai)tivitv mav enable them to sliaic llic cai-tli willi us for m;uiv 



