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Dr. J. K. Butter,



greyish-brown, her tail and wing feathers being white, but not so

large or full as in the cock. They were very quiet and well behaved,

and could be approached and handled with impunity. (Always

approach these birds from behind or sideways, as they kick forwards

and downwards.) They would allow strangers to walk about them,

their pet aversion being dogs, although they got used to mine, an

Airedale. If a dog got into the field where they were they would go

after him at once, and try to run him down and strike at him. An

ostrich is a very dangerous bird when he likes, they can kick forwards

with terrible effect, enough to break a man’s thigh and make a nasty

wound with their powerful and strongly-made nails. It is said the

thump will break a rib or back-bone of any ordinary animal.

Essentially inhabitants of open sandy country, mine did wonderfully

well on the grassfield at Cannock, with a large and dry shed, and

plenty of bedding to lie on. I had the adult cock and hen and four

smaller hens half-grown. They drank enormous quantities of water

at times, and I fed them on dog biscuits broken up, and plenty of

maize or Indian corn. They grazed in the field all day long, and

children fed them with bread very often when passing the field to

school. I could bring them from any part of the field whenever

they saw Indian corn, of which they were extremely fond, as I

mentioned before. When first let out in the morning they would

run round the field several times, and then start a sort of waltzing

or pirouetting round and round, often for many minutes together.

They were very inquisitive birds, exploring any new thing that they

saw, and always attempting to swallow the object. One of my hens

died, and at the post-viortem examination I found a crockery hen’s

nest egg, a 3 in. bolt with nut on, several nails, and pieces of glass,

which had been swallowed and had caused her death. If one was

doing anything in the field with nails or bolts and screws, one

always had to keep them out of sight or they would swallow the lot.

I well remember a patient of mine who had consulted me that same

morning about a very large boil on the back of his neck ! I advised

him to let me open it, but he decided to wait for a day or two. As


* In Paul J. Bainey’s film, “ The African Hunt,” exhibited in this country in

1913, there was an amusing picture of a whole troop of Ostriches waltzing

round and round as described by Dr. Butter.—G. Ii.



