THE OSTRICH. 55 



the habits of birds, which he studied in a state of 

 nature with the scrutinizing eye of a philosopher and 

 the patient zeal of a scientific observer. He relates, 

 however, a circumstance which once fell under his own 

 observation, and which tends in some measure to recon- 

 cile these discordant statements, while at the same 

 time it renders it questionable whether the Ostrich is 

 not, occasionally at least, polygamous. Having dis- 

 turbed a female from a nest containing thirty-eight 

 eggs of unequal size, and having thirteen others scat- 

 tered around it, he concealed himself at a short distance, 

 and observed during the day no less than four females 

 successively taking part in the maternal office. Towards 

 the close of the evening a male also took his share of 

 the duty; and Le Vaillant remarks that he has fre- 

 quently had opportunities of verifying the fact that the 

 male bird sits as well as the female. In this case it 

 would appear probable that several females had depo- 

 sited their eggs in one common nest. The extraordinary 

 number of eggs said to have been sometimes found may 

 also perhaps be accounted for by the fondness of the 

 natives for these delicacies, which they abstract from 

 the nest by means of a long stick, cautiously avoiding 

 to introduce their hands, which they affirm would 

 infallibly drive the bird to abandon the place. The 

 Ostrich naturally continues laying in order to complete 

 her usual number ; and in this way forty or fifty eggs 

 may actually have been obtained from a single female. 

 Within the torrid zone the eggs are merely laid in 

 the warm sand, the female sometimes sitting upon them 

 during the night ; but in general the rays of the sun 

 are sufficiently powerful to hatch them without any 

 assistance on her part. She does not, however, as has 

 been commonly stated, neglect her oftspring, but 

 watches over them with as much solicitude as any 



