CHAPTER VII. 



OSTRICHES (continued). 



Vagaries of an incubator Hatching the chicks A bad egg Human 

 foster-mothers Chicks difficult to rear "Yellow-liver" Cruel 

 boys Chicks herded by hen ostrich Visit to Boer's house A 

 carriage full of ostriches " The melancholy Jaques " Ostriches at 

 sea A stampede Runaway birds Branding Stupidity of 

 ostriches Accidents Waltzing and fighting Ostrich soup An 

 expensive quince A feathered Tantalus Strange things swallowed 

 by ostriches A court-martial The ostrich, or the diamond ? A 

 visit to the Zoo. 



AN incubator, considerably increasing as it does the 

 number of chicks that can be hatched, is of course of 

 the greatest value on a farm. We had one, capable of 

 holding sixty eggs ; and a " finisher," in which thirty 

 more could be placed. Two paraffin lamps, kept con- 

 stantly burning, heated the large tank of the incubator ; 

 and a thermometer, inserted in the water, had to be 

 carefully watched in order that the temperature of the 

 latter might neither exceed nor fall below 103. Be- 

 neath the tank so that the eggs, as in nature, might 

 be heated from above were four drawers, each with 

 compartments for fifteen eggs. I was appointed mana- 

 ger of the incubator ; and morning and evening 



