ON THE OSTRICHES. 207 
I regret to say that the Ostrich has not, up to 
the present time, proved very successful in this 
colony Whether caused by want of knowledge of the 
habits of the bird, and of the best mode of manage- 
ment, or whether the climate be unsuitable, yet 
remains to be proved. The first importation of 
Ostriches, five in number, not being found to increase 
at the Royal Park, it was determined by the Council 
of the Acclimatisation Society, to send them to the 
Wimmera, as it was considered a more suitable climate 
than that of Melbourne. 
Whether this was done, as was insinuated by our 
witty Agent-General (at that time a member of the 
Council of the Acclimatisation Society), to get rid of 
these somewhat unamiable birds, or whether a warmer 
climate was considered more suitable, the result was. 
that they were consigned to my care. With the 
limited information I could gather as to the best mode 
of management, I endeavoured, with some success, to 
increase their numbers, and obtained from them at 
various times a quantity of very good feathers. 
Of the original importation, two were males and 
three females ; of the females one proved barren. The 
first summer, two of the females had nests. These 
were simply a natural hollow in the ground, trampled 
into a saucer-shaped nest about six feet in diameter. 
There was no attempt made to collect grass or any 
kind of rubbish to line the nest with. One of them 
was on hard clay soil, and had about ten eggs in it, 
the other contained thirteen eggs. Unfortunately," 
heavy rains came and flooded the nest which 
was on clay soil, and, although the water soon 
disappeared, the eggs were afterwards found to be 
