ON THE OSTRICHES. 229 
run into a bush or under a log when exhausted, and 
aUow , self to be caught. The head of the ostrich 
do^M 6 ,T def r IeSS —e part, it is 
fttS^ 61 ^ ltben ° titS ^~ to protect 
The egg of the ostrich is three and a-half times 
b-ger m capacity than that of the emu, and twenty- 
five t lmes larger than a hen's egg. The shell is used 
by the natives of Central Africa for carrying water in 
the desert a hole being made in one end'and wh n the 
eggs are filied the orifice is stuffed with a bunch of 
grass, and the eggs carried in nets on the backs of the 
native women. The flavour of the ostrich egg is 
somewhat coarse, but an omelette made from 1 is 
very palatable. 
The taking of the feathers is rather hard work. 
To effect this object, I had a strong yard made, 
with a smaller one leading out of it to a narrow 
ane or crush pen. The ostriches were accustomed 
to the large yard, by being fed in it every day 
men wanted, they were driven into the crush and 
the gates closed. On one occasion, after trying for 
fntf 1 "I ° f a ^ t0 ^ them *™ %rd 
mto the crush pen without success, and being about to 
give it up, a little terrier happened to come into the 
yard, and immediately the birds ran into the pen in 
ornT r ^ PlUCking * d0M fr0 - a Plat- 
form outside the pen, on which the operator stand, 
pul ed by the other. A man assists by keep ng the 
bird up to the place where it is wanted, and preventing 
its turning. They never attempt to peck with theit 
Q 
