362 
THE STORY OF THE OSTRICH . 
not go in a direct line, but runs either in a large circle or first to one side 
and then to the other; this its pursuers take advantage of, and, by rushing 
directly onward, save much ground. In a few days, at most, the strength 
of the animal is exhausted, and it then either turns on the hunters and fights 
with the fury of despair, or hides its head, and tamely receives its fate. 
I can attest to the development of the maternal instinct, which many 
naturalists deny. I once fell in with a troop of about twelve young ostriches 
which were not much larger than guinea-fowls. I was amused to see the 
mother endeavor to lead us away, exactly like a wild duck, spreading out 
and drooping her wings, and throwing herself down on the ground before us 
as if wounded, while the cock bird cunningly led the brood away in an 
opposite direction. 
The ostrich 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 
