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EGGS OF THE OSTRICH.. 
The common Ostrich is so well known that little need be said of its habits, its use to man- 
kind, and the mode of hunting it, a very brief description being all that is necessary. 
This magnificent creature, the largest of all existing birds, inhabits the hot sandy deserts 
of Africa, for which mode of life it is wonderfully fitted. In height it measures from six to 
eight feet, the males being larger than their mates, and of a blacker tint. The food of the 
Ostrich consists mostly of the wild melons which are so beneficently scattered over the sandy 
wastes, absorbing and retaining every drop of moisture condensed in the comparatively cool 
temperature of night, or fallen in the brief but severe rain-storms which serve to give new vigor 
to the scanty desert vegetation and to replenish the rare water springs. 
Besides these melons, which the Ostrich, in common with the lion and other inhabitants 
of the desert, eats as much for drink as for food, the bird feeds on grasses and hard grain, 
which it is able to crush in its powerful gizzard, the action of which internal mill is aided by 
stones and other hard substances, which the Ostrich picks up and swallows just as ordinary 
grain-eating birds swallow sand and small pebbles. In captivity the Ostrich will swallow 
almost anything that comes in its way, such as brickbats, knives, old shoes, scraps of wood, 
feathers, and tenpenny nails, in addition to the legitimate stones. It has even been seen to 
swallow in succession a brood of ducklings; but whether in that case the bird was impelled by 
normal hunger, whether it was afflicted by a morbid appetite, or whether it was merely eating 
the young birds for sheer mischief, are questions open for consideration. 
The Ostrich is a gregarious bird, associating in flocks, and being frequently found mixed 
up with the vast herds of quaggas, zebras, giraffes, and antelopes which inhabit the same 
desert plains. It is also polygamous, each male bird having from two to seven wives. The 
nest of the Ostrich is a mere shallow hole scooped in the sand, in which are placed a large 
number of eggs, all set upright, and with a number of supplementary eggs laid round the 
margin. 
The eggs are hatched mostly by the heat of the sun ; but, contrary to the popular belief, 
the parent birds are very watchful over their nest, and aid in hatching the eggs by sitting 
upon them during the night. Both parents give their assistance in this task. The eggs which 
are laid around the margin of the nest are not sat upon, and consequently are not hatched, so 
that when the eggs within the nest are quite hard, and the young bird is nearly developed, 
those around are quite fit for food. Their object is supposed to be to give nourishment to the 
young birds before they are strong enough to follow their parents and forage for themselves. 
Each egg will weigh on the average about three pounds, being equal to two dozen ordinary 
fowl’s eggs. Yet one of them is not thought too much for a single man to eat at a meal, and 
in one instance two men finished five in the course of an afternoon. The approved method of 
dressing Ostrich eggs is to set the egg upright on the fire, break a round hole at the top, 
squeeze a forked stick into the aperture, leaving the stem protruding, and then to twist the 
stick rapidly between the hands so as to beat up the contents of the egg while it is being 
cooked. Within each egg there are generally some little smooth bean-shaped stones, which 
are composed of the same substance that forms the shell. 
These eggs are put to various useful purposes. Hot only are they eaten, but the shell is 
carefully preserved and chipped into spoons and ladles, or the entire shell employed as a 
water vessel, the aperture at the top being stuffed with grass. The mode of filling these shells 
from sandy pools is ingenious and simple. The business of procuring water is entrusted to 
the women, each of whom is furnished with a hollow reed, a bunch of grass, and her egg- 
shells. She makes a hole in the bed of the water-pool as deep as her arms will reach, ties the 
bunch of grass at the end of the reed, pushes it to the bottom of the hole, and rams the wet 
sand tightly round it. After waiting a little for the water to accumulate, she applies her 
mouth to the upper end of the reed, drawing the water through the tuft of grass at the bottom 
and so filtering it. Having filled her mouth with water, she puts another reed into the egg- 
shell, and pours the water from her mouth into the shell. In this manner a whole village is 
supplied with water, the shells being carefully buried to prevent evaporation. 
The Bushmen make terrible use of these water shells. When they have determined on a 
raid, they send successive parties on the line, loaded with Ostrich egg-shells full of water, 
