196 ANIMAL FOOD RESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



necessary, as the delim does not break all the eggs on 

 the same day, but only three or four, and so on, as- 

 he hears the young ', ones stirring within. This egg is 

 always liquid, but whether by a provision of nature 

 in its original composition, or through the instinct 

 of the parent birds in avoiding to keep it covered like 

 the rest, is not ascertained. The young ones having 

 received this their first nourishment, are immediately 

 dried in the sun, and begin to run about ; in a few 

 days they will follow the parent birds to the pastures,, 

 always returning to shelter under their wings in the 

 nest. 



An ostrich egg is considered as equal in its contents 

 to twenty-four eggs of the domestic hen. These eggs- 

 form a considerable item in the bushman's cuisine, and 

 they are esteemed by the hunter, but in domestication 

 they are too valuable for rearing in incubators to be 

 handed over to the cook. 



The eggs of domesticated ostriches ai'e too costly at pre- 

 sent to be given up for the table ; their importance, how- 

 ever, can be estimated when we consider that the female 

 occasionally lays 82 eggs (each equal to 32 fowls' eggs), 

 that is above 2,624 of the latter, in the season. An. 

 ostrich egg roasted in the embers with truffles has been 

 served up to august personages as a choice dainty, and 

 in an industrial point of view the albumen they contain 

 is considerable. 



Emeu JEggs. —The eggs of the Australian emeu (Dromceiis 

 Novce HoUanduB) are nearly as large as those of the ostrich, 

 but of a dark green colour. These birds, at one time 

 abundant in Australia, are now becoming extinct, for 

 natives and Europeans are fast^ thinning them out, the 

 former eating the eggs and hunting down the birds for 

 food, but they do not allow boys or women to partake 

 of the flesh, it being reserved for warriors or counsellors.. 

 The eggs, although somewhat strong in flavour, are fre- 

 quently eaten by settlers in the bush with great gusto. 

 The flesh of the emeu is excellent, resembling good beef,, 

 and is dressed in a similar manner. The rump part is- 



