388 GEALLATOEES, OE WADING BIEDS. 



Incubation usually takes six weeks, and is shared by both 

 male and female birds : several of the latter often lay in the 

 same nest, and live together on the best terms, under the control 

 of one male. Levaillant remarked four females taking turns in 

 sitting on thirty- eight eggs laid in the same nest : they sat 

 during the night only, the burning heat of the sun during the 

 day being sufficient to maintain the necessary degree of warmth. 

 He also observed that a certain number of the eggs were not sat 

 upon, but were put aside to serve as nourishment for the young 

 ones after they were hatched. 



It is a strange circumstance that the cry of the Ostrich so much 

 resembles that of the Lion when in search of his prey, that they 

 are often confused. Dr. Livingstone says that with all his expe- 

 rience he has been frequently deceived, and that only the quick 

 ear of a native can detect the difference. 



It was long a subject of reproach to the Ostrich that she was 

 wanting in affection for her progeny. She was looked upon as 

 the most striking example 'of the hard-hearted mother. Thus, the 

 Hebrews accepted the Ostrich as the symbol of insensibility, 

 because she left her eggs upon the sand, without troubling her- 

 self, as Job says, about the dangers to which they might be 

 exposed. Jeremiah, too, laments over her that she is devoid of 

 family affection. All these accusations are quite unfounded : as 

 we have already seen, the Ostrich does not abandon her eggs, 

 neither does she desert her young, although they are well covered 

 at their birth with a thick, warm down, and can from the first 

 run about and provide for their own wants. On the contrary, she 

 keeps them near her until they are almost full grown, and defends 

 them against every enemy. Mr. Gumming came suddenly one 

 day on a dozen young Ostriches no larger than full-grown Grouse. 

 " The mother," he says, " tried all she could to deceive us, just 

 like a Wild Duck ; first she ran away, extending her wings ; then 

 she threw herself on the ground as if she was wounded ; whilst the 

 male bird cunningly enough conducted the young ones in an 

 opposite direction." 



Livingstone on several occasions met with broods of young. 

 Ostriches led by a male bird, which pretended to be lame, in 

 order to monopolise the attention of the sportsmen. 



