ON THE OSTRICHES. 21!) 
•and repeating the performance with many curious 
evofotaona When a number are together at play in 
"us way, lt is certainly a most amusing sight to witness. 
Vr. Shaw gives an account of a person whose abdomen 
was ripped up by a stroke from the pointed and angular 
talon of an ostrich. Their strength is enormous, 0 and 
they have even been trained to carry a rider. Adamson 
mentions the rapidity with which a tame one ran, first 
under the weight of two little blacks, and afterwards, 
under two full-grown negroes, while a smaller bird 
earned with equal facility one full-grown negro 
Unless fed daily, and accustomed to come to a 
yard, ostriches are the most difficult creatures in 
the world to manage. From their swiftness, it is most 
difficult to turn or head them on horseback, and they 
will run headlong against any obstacle, and receive 
fatal injuries from their stupidity. I have seen one being 
drrven alongside of a post and rail fence, and the stupid 
bird put lts head through every panel of the fence, and 
ran lull tilt against every post till its breast was raw 
and bleedino' 
o 
The native-bred birds are considerably larger than 
those imported, standing more than two inches taller 
m the back. 
The following notes on ostrich farming at the Cape 
of Good Hope, have been sent to the Council of the 
Acclimatisation Society. They are written by a gentle- 
man who has resided for a long time in South Africa, and 
who had many opportunities of observing the mode o 
management of this bird in that colony. 
* 
