THE OSTRICH. 3 



THE OSTRICH, 



PRESENTED BY HIS MAJESTY TO THE LATE MARCHIONESS OF LONDONDERRY 

 AND NOW IN THE GARDENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



We consider that we could not select a more appropriate subject wherewith to commence the ornitho- 

 logical department of our work, than the Ostrich. It is distinguished by the general outline and 

 properties of a bird, but it possesses also many distinct characteristics of the quadruped, particularly 

 in its internal formation, and in some respects it may be considered as the link or chain in nature, 

 which separates the animal from the feathered tribes. Like the race of the elephant it has been trans- 

 mitted down without mixture, and has never been known to breed out of the country which first 

 produced it. The torrid zones of Africa and Arabia are the native haunts of the ostrich, and 

 in those formidable regions they are seen in large flocks, presenting a most curious spectacle to the 

 astonished traveller. The ostrich is a most voracious bird, swallowing almost every thing which is 

 presented to it : grass, hair, iron, stones, leather, all are devoured by it ; and Valisnieri informs us 

 that he found the first stomach filled with a quantity of incongruous substances, such as grass, nuts, 

 cords, stones, glass, brass, copper, iron, tin, lead, and wood ; and amongst the rest was found a piece of 

 stone that weighed more than a pound. Dr. Shaw relates that he saw an ostrich at Oran which 

 swallowed, without any seeming uneasiness or inconvenience, several leaden bullets thrown on the 

 floor, scorching hot from the mould ! 



This gigantic bird in general stands so high as to measure from seven to twelve feet from the top of 

 the head to the ground. The individual, from which our drawing is taken, stands eleven feet ; from 

 the back, however, it is no more than about five feet, the rest of the height being made up by its ex- 

 tremely long neck. The head is small, and like the greater part of the neck, is covered only with a few 

 scattered hairs. Its strong-jointed legs, which bear a great resemblance to the camel, and its cloven 

 feet, are well adapted both for speed and defence. Of all known animals that make use of their legs 

 in running, the ostrich is by far the swiftest ; on observing itself pursued at a distance, it begins to run. 

 at first gently, being either insensible of its danger, or certain of effecting its escape. Its wings, like 

 two arms, keep working with a motion correspondent to that of its legs ; and its speed, especially if 

 the wind be in its rear, would very soon snatch it from the view of its pursuers, if, instead of going 

 off in a direct line, it did not take its course in circles. Its pursuers then take a smaller circle within, 

 and meet it at unexpected turns, until at last spent with fatigue and famine, after perhaps a chase of 

 two or three days, and finding all hope of escape frustrated, it endeavours to hide itself from its ene- 

 mies in the first thicket which it can reach, or it covers its head in the sand. 



The ostrich is a polygamous bird, the male appropriating to himself two or three and sometimes 

 five females. The season for laying depends on the climate where the bird is bred ; in the 

 northern parts of Africa it commences about the beginning of July, but in the more southern districts 

 about the latter end of December. The early naturalists have divested the ostrich of all affection. 

 for its young, asserting that the female lays her eggs in the sand, and leaves them to be hatched 

 by the power of the sun. Even the author of the Book of Job, in allusion to this bird, says, 

 " Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust, and forgetteth that the fool 



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