Distribution and Habits 6-2 



it to aid it in running; in other respects Ostriches cannot be considered as birds, 

 and do not raise themselves from the ground. They have cloven talons, very 

 similar to the hoof of the stag; with these they fight, and they also employ them 

 for seizing stones for the purpose of throwing at those who pursue them." 



Distribution. At the present time the Ostrich appears to be confined to 

 certain of the desert portions of Africa as well as similar areas in Arabia and 

 southern Palestine, but there is abundant evidence to show that within historic 

 times it enjoyed a far more extensive range which included portions of Syria, 

 Mesopotamia, eastern Persia, and perhaps Baluchistan, and in recent geologic 

 time (Pliocene) it enjoyed a still wider distribution, since fossil remains of 

 Ostriches, or at least of certain large two-toed birds very near of kin to them, 

 or their eggs, have been found in the Sivalik Hills in India, the Province of 

 Cherson in southeastern Russia, northern China, the island of Samos, etc. The 

 presence of a large Ostrich-like bird in western North America has also been 

 reported by Cope, but this determination rests on a single fragmentary bone, 

 and is thought by later paleontologists to be open to grave question. There 

 can be no doubt, however, that the range of the Ostrich has been undergoing 

 a contraction for a very long period of time, and unfortunately this process seems 

 to be going on at the present day, for countries where it was once reasonably 

 abundant now know it no more or but rarely. The main stronghold is of course 

 the Dark Continent, and there it will undoubtedly linger for a long time, but as 

 this vast area comes gradually under the dominion of at least semi-civilization, 

 the Ostrich must of necessity give way. However, there is probably no danger 

 of its disappearing utterly, at least so long as the votaries of fashion call for its 

 plumes, for, as will be recounted later, it is now extensively "farmed." 



Habits. It is of course well known that the Ostrich is mainly an inhabitant 

 of the desert, preferring the dry, sandy wastes, but not altogether shunning the 

 valleys and plains that are studded with scattered low bushes, its commanding 

 stature and long neck permitting it uninterrupted vision in all directions. It 

 is an extremely wary bird, distrustful of all suspicious objects and especially 

 of the presence of man, though it may often be seen in close proximity to herds 

 of zebras, quaggas, giraffes, antelopes, and other quadrupeds. It is a very 

 nervous, restless bird, continually on the move, especially during the daytime, 

 and fleeing at the slightest approach of danger, its proverbial foolishness in 

 hiding its head in the sand and thereby supposing that it was effectually con- 

 cealed being now relegated to the limbo of myths along with dozens of others 

 that have been illumined by the cold facts of science and truth. The Ostrich 

 is gregarious, going about in small parties of from three or four up to a dozen or 

 twenty, and exceptionally as many as fifty have been noted in company. Dur- 

 ing the breeding season the male is polygamous, consorting with some three, 

 four, or five females which are acquired by blandishment or by fierce battles 

 with rivals. The nest is very simple, being merely a slight hollow scratched in 

 the sand, and all the females of a party lay in the same nest. There appears 

 to be some uncertainty as to the usual number of eggs laid, but as many as thirty 

 have not infrequently been recorded, and ordinarily there are a number scattered 



