THE OSTRICH. 
209 
night the male sits over and guards them. In Cape Colony 
ostrich-culture has become an important business; in 1865 
there were only eighty individuals on the ostrich farms; in 
1875 there were 32,247 ostriches, eitlier free or in parks 
where Lucerne grass is cultivated as food for these useful 
birds. The South American ostrich is in Patagonia hunted 
Fig. 245.— South American Ostrich. From Liitken's Zoology. 
for its feathers. According to Herbert Smith, its food con- 
sists of seeds, grass, insects, etc., and the herdsmen say 
that it also eats snakes. " The nest is a mere shallow 
hole scratched in the ground; twenty, thirty, or more eggs 
are found together, but it appears that these are not all laid 
by one bird: several females lay their eggs together, and 
