BLACK OSTRICH. 



427 



they at the outset use the least rashness, the match- 

 less speed of the game would immediately carry it 

 out of their sight, and in a very short time beyond 

 their reach ; but where they proceed gradually it 

 makes no particular effort to escape. It does not 

 go in a straight line, but runs first to one side and 

 then to the other ; this its pursuers take ad- 

 vantage of, and by rushing directly onward save 

 much ground. In a few days at most, the strength 

 of the animal is exhausted, and it then either turns 

 on the hunters and fights with the fury of despair, 

 or hides its head and tamely submits to its fate. 

 Another method of catching them is by a man 

 concealing himself in the skin of one of these 

 birds, and by that means approaching near enough 

 to surprise them. They are often taken alive, as 

 they are easily tamed, and may be rendered very 

 useful. Their skins are very thick, and are sub- 

 stituted for leather by the Arabians : their flesh 

 and eggs are esteemed by many an excellent food, 

 and their feathers even in this country are very 

 valuable, and greatly used for ornament. 



In procuring the eggs from the nest, the natives 

 are very careful not to touch any with their handsy 

 as the parent birds are sure to discover it upon 

 their return, and not only desist from laying any 

 more in the same place, but trample to pieces with 

 their feet all those that have been left ; therefore 

 a long stick is always used to push them out of 

 the nest. In the interior of the eggs there are 

 often discovered a number of small oval-shaped 



