ORDER GRALLiE. 420 



able to derive all the advantages, that it otherwise might do, 

 from the resources with which nature hns provided it. 



The ostrich has, in general, been made the emblem of stu- 

 pidity ; and it has been said, that when it hides its head, and 

 cannot see the hunter, it believes itself sheltered from his pur- 

 suits. Supposing such a fact to have been really observed, 

 might it not have occurred when an ostrich was exhausted 

 from fatigue, and without means of escape, and result from 

 its own knowledge of the peculiar weakness of one of its 

 organs .'' With the exception of the vertex, which is fortified 

 by a corneous plate, the bones of the ostrich's head are very 

 tender. Many circumstances may produce in the bird the 

 feeling of its weakness in this respect, and it is not at all 

 astonishing that it should particularly seek to guard this part 

 against any shock, either by hiding it in the sand, or else- 

 where. If no other proofs of stupidity can be brought against 

 the bird, we doubt if this one can be admissible as conclusive 

 against its intellect. It seems rather to be attributable to the 

 extreme timidity and mild character of the animal. 



The voice of the ostrich, which the sacred writers have 

 compared to the bellowing of a bull, and Dr. Brown to a 

 hoarse child crying, is not often heard. According to Spar- 

 man, the natives of the different countries about the Cape 

 are agreed that the cry of the ostrich resembles the roaring of 

 the lion, but that it is less prolonged. Other writers have 

 found a resemblance between this cry and that of the pigeon ; 

 but this observation was made only on ostriches in a state of 

 captivity. The voice of the male is a little stronger than that 

 of the female. When those captive ostriches were annoyedj 

 they threatened by hissing like a goose ; and also testified 

 their anger by raising and shaking their wings and tail. To 

 the ostriches in the French menagerie, dogs appeared to be 

 peculiarly disagreeable ; when the male beheld them, he would 

 strike violently against the boards of the place where he was 



