CHAPTER yn. 



OSTRICHES (.continued). 



Vagaries of an incubator — Hatching the chicks — A bad egg — Human 

 foster-mothers — Chicks difficult to rear — "Yellow-liver" — Cruel 

 boys — Chicks herded by hen ostrich — Visit to Boer's house — A 

 carriage full of ostriches — " The melancholy Jaques " — Ostriches at 

 sea — A stampede — Runaway birds — Branding — Stupidity of 

 ostriches— Accidents— Waltzing and fighting — Ostrich soup — An 

 expensive quince — A feathered Tantalus — Strange things swallowed 

 by ostriches— A court-martial — The ostrich, or the diamond? — A 

 visit to the Zoo. 



An incubator, considerably increasing as it does the 

 number of chicles that can be hatched, is of course of 

 the greatest value on a farm. We had one, capable of 

 holding sixty eggs ; and a " finisher," in which thirty 

 more could be placed. Two paraffin lamps, kept con- 

 stantly burning, heated the large tank of the incubator ; 

 and a thermometer, inserted in the water, had to be 

 carefully watched in order that the temperature of the 

 latter might neither exceed nor fall below 103°. Be- 

 neath the tank — so that the eggs, as in nature, might 

 be heated from above — were four drawers, each with 

 compartments for fifteen eggs. I was appointed mana- 

 ger of the incubator ; and morning and evening— 



