666 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



But the ostrich has other enemies besides the savage or the hungry traveler to fear 

 for its young brood. Thus the natives about the Orange River assert that, when the 

 birds have left their nest in the middle of the day in search of food, a white vulture 

 may be seen soaring in mid air, with a stone between his talons. Having carefully 

 surveyed the ground below him, he suddenly lets fall the stone, and then follows it in 

 rapid descent. On running to the spot you will find a nest of probably a score of eggs, 

 some of them broken by the vulture who used this ingenious device for procuring him- 

 self a dainty meal. 



Almost as soon as the chicks of the ostrich (which are about the size of pullets) 

 have escaped from the shell, they are able to walk about and to follow the mother, on 

 whom they are dependent for a long time. And here again we find a wonderful pro- 

 vision of nature in providing the young of the ostrich with a color and a covering ad- 

 mirably suited to the localities they frequent. The color is a kind of pepper-and-salt, 

 agreeing well with the sand and gravel of the plains, which they are in the habit of 

 traversing, so that you have the greatest difficulty in discerning the chicks even when 

 crouching under your very eyes. The covering is neither down nor feathers, but a 

 kind of prickly stubble, which no doubt is an excellent protection against injury from 

 the gravel and the stunted vegetation amongst which they dwell. 



The ostrich resembles in many respects the quadrupeds, and particularly the camel, 

 so that it may almost be said to fill up the chasm which separates the mammalia from 

 the birds, and to form a connecting link between them. We indeed hesitated in this 

 work whether to place the ostrich among birds or animals. Both the ostrich and the 

 dromedary have warty excrescences on the breast upon which they lean whilst repos- 

 ing, an almost similarly formed foot, the same muscular neck ; and when we consider 

 that they both feed upon the most stunted herbage, and are capable of supporting 

 thirst for an incredibly long time, being, in fact, both equally well formed for living 

 on the arid plains, it is certainly not to be wondered at that the ancients gave the 

 ostrich a name betokening this similitude {Struthiocamelas,) and that the fancy of the 

 Arabs ascribes its. original parentage to a bird and to a dromedary. 



It is difficult to ascertain what the tastes of the ostrich may be while roaming the 

 desert, but when in captivity no other bird or animal shows less nicety in the choice of 

 its food, gobbling down with avidity stones, pieces of wood and iron, spoons, knives, 

 and other articles of equally light digestion that may be presented to it. Thus it has 

 always been far-famed for the wonderful powers of its stomach, and many amusing an- 

 ecdotes are told of its voracity. A batch of these birds having once been brought to 

 a small town for the inspection of the curious, a respectable matron, anxious to obtain 

 a sight of the strange creatures, hastily shut up her house, and, key in hand, hurried 

 to the spot where they were kept. Scarcely had she arrived, when one of them gravely 

 stalked up, as if to thank her for her visit, and suddenly bending its long neck, to her 

 horror, snatched the key out of her hand, and swallowed it in a trice ; so that the in- 

 dignant old lady — thus shut out of her own house — vowed that if all the beasts of 

 Africa were to pass her door, she would not so much as open it to look at them. 

 " Nothing," says Methuen, speaking of a domesticated ostrich, " disturbed its diges- 

 tion — dyspepsia (happy thing) was undreampt of in its philosophy. One day a Mus- 

 covy-duck brought a promising race of ducklings into the world, and with maternal pride 

 conducted them forth into the yard. Up with solemn and measured stride walked the 



