328 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



ORDER X. "^"^ order includes the Ostrich, the Rhea, the 

 The Cassowaries and the Emus. The Ostrich be- 

 Ostriohes. longs to Africa, Australasia, and South America. 

 It is the largest of the birds, attaining to a height of six 

 feet^ and a weight of three hundred poimds. It is hunted 

 for the sake of its feathers, but being very swift of foot has 

 to be circumvented by strategy. It is said to run in large 

 curves, which habit gives the hunter the opportunity of riding 

 straight and intercepting it. "A favourite method adopted 

 by the wild Bushman for approaching the Ostrich and other 

 varieties of game," says Captain Cumming, "is to clothe him- 

 self in the skin of one of these birds, in which, taking care 

 of the wind, he stalks about the plain, cunningly imitating 

 the gait and motions of the Ostrich, until within range, when, 

 with a well-directed poisoned arrow from his tiny bow, he 

 can generally seal the fate of any of the ordinary varieties 

 of game." The eggs of the Ostrich are also much prized. 

 "The nest," says Captain Cumming, "is merely a hollow 

 scooped in the sandy soil, generally amongst heath or other 

 low bushes; its diameter is about seven feet; it is believed 

 that two hens often lay in one nest The hatching of the 

 eggs is not left, as is generally believed, to the heat of the 

 sun, but, on the contrary, the cock relieves the hen in the 

 incubation. The eggs form a considerable item in the Bush- 

 man's cuisine, and the shells are converted into water flasks, 

 cups, and dishes. I have often seen Bush-girls and Bakala- 

 hari women, who belong to the wandering Bechuana tribes 

 of the Kalahari desert, come down to the fountains from 

 their remote habitations, sometimes situated at an amazing 

 distance, each carrying on her back a kaross, or a net-work 

 containing from twelve to fifteen ostrich egg-shells, which had . 

 been emptied by a small aperture at one end; these they 

 fill with water." 



The ostrioh The Ostrich shows the same afiection for its 

 anditsToimB. iT-^ate, and the same devotion to the care of its 



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