48 THE OSTRICH. 



those parts which are covered assume a different 

 and more becoming plumage. 



The beauty of a part of this plumage, particu- 

 larly 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 these plumes in 

 their helmets ; the ladies of the East make them 

 an ornament in their dress ; and among us, our 

 undertakers and our fine gentlemen still make 

 use of them to decorate their hearses and their 

 hats. Those feathers which are plucked 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. 



Besides 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 Romans themselves were not averse to it. 

 Apicius gives us a receipt for making sauce for 

 the ostrich ; and Heliogabalus is noted for having 

 dressed the brains of six hundred ostriches in one 

 dish ; for it was his custom never to eat but of 

 one dish in a day, but that was an expensive one. 

 Even among the Europeans now, the eggs of the 

 ostrich are said to be well tasted, and extremely 

 nourishing ; but they are too scarce to be fed 



