182 WILD ANIMAL CELEBRITIES 



to first persuade, and then try to make her 

 do what was required of her. He would tap 

 and turn over the big eggs with his wide bill, 

 go over to her and peck her and then back 

 again to the eggs, and when Martha still re- 

 fused, he tried to drive her over to the nest! 

 But after a time he seemed to realize that 

 it was no use; and one day, although it was 

 midday, to the astonishment of the onlook- 

 ers, after looking toward his wife once or 

 twice, he deliberately sat down on the nest 

 and stayed there! This is an extraordinary 

 fact, especially when it is taken into con- 

 sideration what a tactless, unintelligent bird 

 the ostrich is. He appears to all those who 

 have studied him carefully to do everything 

 by instinct alone, which makes this act of 

 George "Washington's all the more wonderful. 

 What I consider is more extraordinary still 

 is that he sat patiently on that nest during the 

 ensuing forty days and nights, kept the eggs 

 warm, and finally hatched out the finest brood 

 of chicks which had ever been hatched on the 

 farm during all the years of its existence. 



