OSTRICHES. 
113 
affection for her young. This, indeed, is the cha- 
racter she bore in the ancient days of the prophet 
Jeremiah, who compares the Ostrich to the unnatural 
mothers of Zion: Even the sea monsters draw out the 
breast , they give suck to their young ones; the daugh- 
ter of my people is become cruel , like the Ostriches in 
the wilderness. — Lam. iv. 3. It is certainly true 
that she does lay her eggs in the desert, leaving them 
by day to the warmth of a burning sun ; but no 
sooner does the evening set in, than swiftly she 
hastens across the wild tracts of sand, over which 
she has, throughout the day, been wandering, in 
search of a scanty supply of food, and all night long 
she covers them with the tenderest care. 
The American Ostriches ( Struthio Rhea ,) are not 
only most affectionate, hut sociable, laying together 
in the same nest, or rather the same hole, showing 
equal attention to their joint broods; and that they 
are not deficient in attachment towards each other, 
the following affecting story fully proves. 
A pair of Ostriches had long been kept in the 
Zoological Gardens at Paris. The skylight over 
their heads having been broken, the glaziers pro- 
ceeded to repair it, and in the course of their work 
let fall a triangular piece of glass. Not long after 
this the female Ostrich was taken ill, and died, in 
an hour or two, in great agony. The body was 
opened, and the throat and stomach were found to 
have been dreadfully lacerated by the sharp corners 
of the glass, which she had swallowed. From the 
moment his companion was taken from him, the 
mate had no rest ; he appeared to be incessantly 
searching for something, and gradually wasted away. 
VOL. II. i 
