172 THE OSTKICH. 



to the other end, on he madly rushed to get past the men, and so 

 was speared. He never swerves from the course he once adopts, 

 but only increases his speed. 



When the ostrich is feeding his pace is from twenty to twenty- 

 two inches; when walking, but not feeding, it is twenty -six 

 inches ; and when terrified, as in the case noticed, it is from 

 eleven and a half to thirteen and even fourteen feet in length. 

 Only in one case was I at all satisfied of being able to count the 

 rate of speed by a stop-watch, and, if I am not mistaken, there 

 were thirty in ten seconds ; generally one's eye can no more fol- 

 low the legs than it can the spokes of a carriage-wheel in rapid 

 motion. If we take the above number, and twelve feet stride as 

 the average pace, we have a speed of twenty-six miles an hour. 

 It can not be very much above that, and is therefore slower than 

 a railway locomotive. They are sometimes shot by the horseman 

 making a cross cut to their undeviating course, but few English- 

 men ever succeed in killing them. 



The ostrich begins to lay her eggs before she has fixed on a 

 spot for a nest, which is only a hollow a few inches deep in the 

 sand, and about a yard in diameter. Solitary eggs, named by the 

 Bechuanas " lesetla," are thus found lying forsaken all over the 

 country, and become a prey to the jackal. She seems averse to 

 risking a spot for a nest, and often lays her eggs in that of an- 

 other ostrich, so that as many as forty-five have been found in one 

 nest. Some eggs contain small concretions of the matter which 

 forms the shell, as occurs also in the egg of the common fowl : 

 this has given rise to the idea of stones in the eggs. Both male 

 and female assist in the incubations ; but the numbers of females 

 being always greatest, it is probable that cases occur in which 

 the females have the entire charge. Several eggs lie out of the 

 nest, and are thought to be intended as food for the first of the 

 newly-hatched brood till the rest come out and enable the whole 

 to start in quest of food. I have several times seen newly-hatch- 

 ed young in charge of the cock, who made a very good attempt 

 at appearing lame in the plover fashion, in order to draw off the 

 attention of pursuers. The young squat down and remain im- 

 movable when too small to run far, but attain a wonderful degree 

 of speed when about the size of common fowls. It can not be 

 asserted that ostriches are polygamous, though they often appear 



