TG EGGS OF THK OSTRICH. 
come and alternately seat themselves in the 
nest, each sitting a quarter of an hour, and 
then giving place to another, which, while 
waiting its turn, sat close to her that was 
to. succeed. According to observers of the 
habits of the Emus, in South America, the 
manner in which the supernumerary eggs are 
designed to contribute to the nourishment of 
the young birds is different; namely, that 
having addled by the time the others are 
hatched, they are then broken by the pa- 
rents, when the multitude of flies which 
settle upon them afford the young brood 
a supply of provisions. Both these ste- 
ries are in the highest degree improbable. 
From some cause not yet understood, super- 
numerary eggs are laid; but, to suppose any 
thing so contrary to the order of nature as 
that the young Ostrich’s are to eat them, or 
so apparently trivial and inefficient as their 
sacrifice to the object of collecting supplies, 
is what we should receive with caution ;_ 
especially when we have just before been 
told, that the young birds are fed by their 
parents with grass; and while the author 
last quoted assures us that the Emoo lives 
