25 
TKK CRAl-TY OSTRICH. 
The Crafty Ostrich. 
A well known luintor and taxidormist tcdls this .story of ])er.son- 
al experience in South Africa. It goes far toward dispelling a 
slander that lias long clouded the fair name of the ostrich : 
“ .\rriving at one of the momster hills of the white ant, 1 climbed 
upon it and raised my observation glasses to my eyes for a careful 
survey of the region. ]\Iy lirst glance showed me, arising from the 
dead level of the ])lain bejajiid, two objects, each having the form 
of a capital vS. These 1 knew were the heads and necks of two os¬ 
triches. Though I believed they had sighted me, I remained im¬ 
movable until their necks were suddenly drawn down to the level 
of the tojjs of the bushes which screened their bodies. Then I 
knew for a certainty that they were aware of my presence and 
would make a ({uick retreat. 
“ Without losing an instant’s time I ran to the spot where the 
birds had been standing and found their tracks. These I followed 
as far as they were distingiiishable and then took a course which I 
believed the birds would naturally follow. No sooner had I 
reached the top of the ravine than I saw one of the ostriches climb¬ 
ing the side hill. Estimating the distance I took sight and fired. 
The ball passed immediately between his legs and struck in the 
sand of the side hill behind him. 
“In an instant the bird darted a^vay like an arrow in the direc¬ 
tion of a small clump of bushes in the center of an open space. 
“ That he would pass behind this bush and then finally emerge on 
the other side seemed certain, and I aimed to catch him as he made 
a fresh start from behind the thorn. lie flew over the sand at a 
terrific rate and reached the bushes. Then 1 waited fully five min¬ 
utes for him to emerge from his hiding, with my rifle ready sighted 
So that I could pull the trigger the second he reappeared, br;t 
finally went forward to rout him out. When 1 reached the clump 
of bushes an examination of the sand showed that the crafty old 
bird liad shifted his course at idght angle, making the turn so sud¬ 
denly that his feet had plowed up the sand for a distance of sever¬ 
al inches, fl’liis wary tack had placed the bushes between the bird 
and myself, and he made liis way to new cover while I was inno¬ 
cently waiting for him on the other .side of the ambush. An 
Apache Indian could not have executed this maneuver more clever¬ 
ly and I smiled at myself for having been foolish enough to believe 
the traditional .story of how the silly ostrich buries his head in the 
sand and believes that he ivS thereby concealed . — Philadelphia Post. 
