144 HOME LIFE ON AN OSTRICH FARM. 



Some birds — artful old rovers who have been away 

 before and have tasted the joys of freedom — will spend 

 days running up and down along the side of the fence ; 

 keeping the gate well in sight, and watching for the 

 chance of its being left open. 



The family of one of our herds, living close to a 

 gate, were supposed to act as lodge-keepers ; but — like 

 most of the coloured race — they could never be induced 

 to attend steadily and systematically to their duty, 

 and we often found the gate wide open, inviting an 

 exodus of birds. A fine of five shillings was imposed 

 for each offence ; but the hardened sinners knew that 



T 's kind heart made him reluctant to enforce the 



penalty. 



Ostriches, when very firmly bent on escaping, and 

 finding no gate open, will sometimes charge the fence ; 

 and, though occasionally one will succeed in tumbling 

 safely over and getting away, the clumsy performance 

 most frequently results in broken legs. 



Runaway birds are far from being the least among 

 the many trials of an ostrich-farmer's life ; and the 

 annual losses caused by them even exceed in number 

 those resulting from accident. Then they involve such 

 endless waste of time and trouble. T was con- 

 tinually riding about, searching and making inquiries, 

 often in vain, for lost ostriches. When he was fortu- 

 nate enough to find one, or hear of its whereabouts ; or 

 perhaps see, from the advertised description of its brand, 

 that it was an inmate of some distant pound, two of 

 the herds — never spared without difiiculty from other 



