220 TME COMPLETE POULTRY BOOK. 



the same Is believed with regard to some other forma. This may be the case, or 

 these forms may be the result of hybridization. At any rate the experiment is 

 worth making of trying to preserve some of these strange birds. 



The Osbrich: This bird, the representative of the family under consideration, 

 is a native of tropical Africa ; in its wild state it is gregarious and polygamous, 

 the wives of one male laying in the same nest, and the male assisting in incuba- 

 tion, which work, however, is largely left to the heat of the sun by day, the eggs 

 being incubated at night to preserve their warmth. This habit, however, is 

 modified in cooler regions, where incubation is maintained continuously. Lay- 

 ing continues during incubation, the surplus eggs being supposed by some to be 

 intended for the food of the young birds, but other authorities consider them 

 merely the result of the polygamous habit of the birds, just as the laying hens in 

 a farm-yard will lay in the nests of the sitters, if not prevented. 



The ordinary food of the ostrich consists of grass, leaved and seeds, but it does" 

 not altogether reject animal food. It is noted for its propensity to swallow 

 stones, bits of metal, pieces of leather, etc. These serve the same purpose as 

 the smaller stones swallowed by the fowls of the farm-yard. 



The wings of the ostrich, and of all birds of its family, are too short for flight, 

 which gives them the name of Brevipemnes; but this defect is recompensed by 

 an extraordinary fleetness of foot, the ostrich being said to reach a speed of 

 sixty miles an hour, while half that rate is well authenticated. 



The ostriches, as well as the Cassowary and Emu, possess great sti-ength of 

 leg, Which enables them not only to run with, great speed, but to strike with 

 powerful effect. The ostrich strikes forward, and is recorded to have disem- 

 boweled a man with a blow from its claws ; while even the tiger is wary of at- 

 tacking it. It only fights however, when at bay ; its first impulse being flighf 



The economic value of the ostrich lies chiefly in its feathers, the coarsest of 

 which are valuable for feather-dusters, and the" finer are in great demand for or- 

 namental plumes. For these purposes the feathers are worth from one dollar to 

 two hundred and fifty dollars per pound. The flesh of young ostriches is palat- " 

 able, but that of older birds is inferior. Old birds, when fattened, yield a large 

 quantity of oil, which is much esteemed for culinary purposes. 



The domestication of the ostrich may be said to be an accomplished fact, as 

 more than thirty-two thousand ostriches were reported as being kept in the vi- 

 cinity of Cape Town in 1865. Ostrich-farms are also reported in Egypt, and they 

 have been introduced into southern California. Since the camel has been suc- 

 cessfully acclimated in New Mexico and Arizona it would seem probable that 

 the ostrich might do equally well. In domestication the adults are kept to 

 themselves by means of wire fences— one six or seven feet high being suflicient. 

 In Cape Colony it has been found that a range of six hundred acres of grass was 

 required for eighty ostriches; grass, when deficient, has been suooessfuUy re- 

 placed by maize. 



^ In feathers and young the annual return of an ostrich is said to be worth $150 

 to $250 ; the adult birds belonging to the Khedive of Egypt were valued at $1,000 

 to $1,600 each. 



