OSTRICHES. 



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instances where even the constitution of an ostrich could not resist the effects of 

 some of the substances swallowed. Among the ordinary food of the ostrich are 

 comprised small mammals and birds, snakes, lizards, and insects, as well as grass, 

 leaves, fruits, berries, and seeds. Although they can go for protracted periods 

 without it, and will not wander far out of their way to procure it, yet when water 

 is at hand, ostriches will drink constantly. Young ostriches are said to be silent, 

 but the old cocks utter a loud cry, which is likened by Livingstone to the roar of 

 the lion, and by Canon Tristram to the lowing of oxen ; this cry being generally 

 uttered in the early morning. The ostrich's chief mode of attack or defence is by 

 kicking with its immensely powerful legs, although, in the fights in which the 

 cocks periodically indulge, the birds also peck at one another with their beaks. 



Much interest attaches to the breeding-habits of the ostrich, although from 

 many of the accounts having been derived from native sources, very erroneous 

 notions are prevalent on this subject. At the pairing-season, which takes place 

 early in the spring, each cock, after having gone through various performances to 

 attract their attention, and frequently many contests with his rivals, associates 

 with three or four hens. All these hens lay in a single nest, which consists solely 

 of a large hollow excavated in the sand. There is still some uncertainty as to the 

 number of eggs laid in a nest, although there is little doubt that this has been 

 much exaggerated. As many as twenty are, however, frequently incubated ; but 

 in addition to these it appears that a certain number are deposited round the edge 

 of the nest, which are never intended to be hatched, and are stated to serve as food 

 for the young. Although it is generally stated that both sexes take equal shares 

 in the work of incubation, this is incorrect, the cock-bird (as among all the other 

 members of the subclass) undertaking almost the entire task. He sits, for instance, 

 throughout the night, when the nest must be protected from prowling jackals ; and 

 in such regions, as the eggs are incubated by day as well as by night, he is only 

 relieved for short periods during the day in order to procure food. Incubation 

 during the day takes place, however, only in the cooler districts of the ostrich's 

 habitat ; in the hotter regions the eggs being left to themselves, with a covering of 

 sand during the day. 



Capture and As already mentioned, advantage is taken of the peculiar habits 



Domestication. o f the ostrich to surround its flocks by a party of mounted men, 

 and by this method many are killed in Africa. There are, however, many other ways 

 of capture. For instance, the bushmen are or were in the habit of dressing them- 

 selves in the skin of an ostrich, and thus disguised penetrating into the midst of a 

 flock, when the birds were despatched one after another by means of poisoned 

 arrows. The hunter must, however, take care to keep to the leeward of his 

 victims. In Somaliland the natives hunt the ostrich on camels ; while in Arabia 

 and the Sahara it is ridden down on horseback. The bushmen and Somalis also 

 resort to the aid of pitfalls; while the lasso is employed by the Hadendowa 

 Arabs of the Sudan, and some other tribes ; and in Senaar a curved stick is used in 

 boomerang-fashion for the same purpose. In Namaqualand the birds are either 

 surrounded by a cordon of men on foot, who gradually close in upon the flock ; or 

 they are driven by mounted hunters past concealed relays of their companions, 

 who in turn take up the pursuit till their victims fall through sheer exhaustion. 



