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AMERICAN AGRIC ULTURIS'I . 
[OCTOBEK, 
BRINGING THE OSTRICH INTO 
[COPYRIGHT SECLT.UD.] 
THE ■ M E N A 6 E K 1 E . — Drawn, and Engraved for the American Affrteultwiat. 
takes an interest in the puzzle department," wants to 
know if our puzzlers can make a column of words, using 
every letter of the alphabet once only. He (or she) sends 
-ix words which use up all the letters hut three. In a 
few minutes 1 trial I have made six words, using all the 
letters of the alphabet but two. Who will do better ? 
Puzzlers will please refrain from sending enigmas upon 
their own names, or upon the names of our papers or 
editors, for reasons of taste. 
I often receive letters from little invalids, telling me 
how much pleasure the Puzzle-Box has given them. To 
all such I return my heartfelt thanks for the assurance 
that, though distant from them, I have been able to cheer 
and comfort them. 
Thanks for letters, puzzles, etc., to O. A. G.. C. II. Ml, 
Frank B., O. W. S. 
Trouble witli a Big ISircl. 
The excellent collection of wild animals at Central Park 
in New York City has been mentioned several times. 
There one can see without charge one of the finest mena- 
geries in the country. Constant additions are being made 
to this collection, and beasts and birds from all parts of 
the world find their way here. One of our artists hap- 
pened to be at the Park at a time when a new-comer was 
being introduced to the collection, and though the new 
scholar was nothing hut a bird, it required a great deal 
of strength and no little tact to get him into the school- 
house. It is not. at all unlikely that he did not fancy the 
looks of the other scholars already in their places, and 
that the long neck of Master Camel, the shaggy mane of 
Master Leo t the Lion, and the antics of Master Ursus, 
known to his mates as the Bear, were sufficient to inspire 
the new-comer with dread. At all events, there was what 
a New York " Arab " would call a regular Ll muss, " and 
the whole scene was so ludicrous that the artist thought 
he would sketch it, so that our Boy-? and Girls could see 
it as he saw i . Now, if asked w hat bird this is, you all 
will answer, without hesitation, "An ostrich," and if 
asked where it comes from, the answer will be "' Africa."' 
To the question, What does it live upon ? it is very likely 
we shall get the reply, "Glass-bottles and tenpenny nails,'' 
and if we go -till farther and ask, What does the Ostrich 
produce? you will say, "Big eggs and feathers. " 1 All of 
this is in the main true, for the geographTeli and other 
school-books have about as much of the history of the 
Ostrich as is given in the above answers. Now let u« 
see what we can add to it to make the story complete. 
In the first place, the Ofltrich is the largest and the 
strongest of all living birds. Bones of a larger bird, no 
longer living, are found in Australia, but as far as size 
goes we must regard the Ostrich as the very " cock of the 
walk." Well we may, for it is often seven or eight feet 
high and weighs something like eighty pounds. The first 
thing that would strike your attention should you see one 
of these birds, is the enormous length and strength of its 
legs, and, for the size of the bird, the smalluess of its 
wings. Nature always makes up in one thing what is 
lacking in another. Those plants that rarely produce 
seed, multiply in some other way, and persons horn blind 
have wonderfully acute hearing and touch. The Ostrich 
is poorly off for wings, and can not fly at all, but as for 
running— just look at its legs ! Unlike most birds, the 
Ostrich has only two toes, the inner one of which has a 
powerful claw. The way these legs can get over the 
ground is something astonishing, and it is said that it 
can even keep pace with the fleet Zebra, and that their 
strength is such that a large bird that has been properly 
trained can carry a couple of negroes on its back. That 
story we give to you on first-rate authority, but we don't 
believe it. There is evidently one negro too many. The 
foodof the Ostrich is vegetable, but it seems to have a 
habitof " gobbling " almost anything that comes in its 
way, hence we have the story of its feeding on tenpenny 
nails and finishing off with broken glass byway of des- 
sert. It no doubt takes indigestible things to help grind 
its food in its gizzard, just as our fowls take gravel, but 
it is doubtful if it has any preference for such food. Bnt 
the feathers ! How beautiful they are! Such softness 
and graceful curves are not to be found in the feathers of 
any other bird. The feathers are highly valued as orna- 
ments, and bring a very high price. They come from the 
wings of the Ostrich, and those from the male birds are 
much the finest. Of late years the value of these feathers 
has induced people who live in Africa to make what are 
called " Ostrich farms," where the birds are kept in cap- 
tivity for the sake of their feathers. The eggs of the 
Ostrich are very large— as large as a child's head. The 
bird sits upon them at night, but during the day leaves 
them to the heat of an African eun, The eggs are said 
to be very good eating, and so are the young birds also. 
We should prefer a well-fed turkey. In very old times, 
when emperors and other high dignitaries fed their 
guests on peacocks' tongues and all such extravagant 
luxuries, oatrichs 1 brains ttsod tohe served asa rare dish. 
