THE ZOOLOGIST 



No. 669.— March, 1897. 



THE OSTRICH. 



By S. C. Cronwright Schreiner. 



The Ostrich, Struthio camelus, has been observed with in- 

 terest from very early times ; it has frequently been the subject 

 of remark by African travellers ; and it has been domesticated 

 and farmed in the Cape Colony for some thirty years. Yet it is 

 remarkable how little is known about it in scientific circles, and 

 how many misconceptions still prevail as to its nature and habits.* 



* This article is founded on personal observations made during nine 

 years of uninterrupted Ostrich-farming in the Karroo of the Cape Colony, 

 and during travels about the country generally. The number of Ostriches 

 which were under my care during this period ranged from about 250 to 

 450. Some of the birds were the progeny of wild birds, brought down as 

 chicks from further up-country. Every year eight special breeding pairs 

 were camped off, each pair in a separate small camp ; but the other birds ran 

 in large camps, the extent of the farm being 4600 morgen (about two acres to 

 the morgen). In these large camps, some of which are a couple of miles in 

 diameter, numbers of birds of both sexes run in what is practically a wild 

 state, seldom interfered with in any way, except when rounded up to be 

 plucked or to be fed in a drought. I know, from personal observation when 

 purchasing wild chicks from the nest, and from numerous inquiries, that the 

 habits of birds thus farmed differ in no way from those of native wild birds, 

 except perhaps that monogamy is more difficult. The whole of the Cape 

 Colony is the native habitat of the Ostrich ; there are feral Ostriches in many 

 parts, and wild birds in some of the up-country districts. 



Zool. 4th ser. vol. I., March, 1897. h 



