so 
GUIDE TO THE 
the wing-bones being comparatively little developed. The 
plumage is so sparse over the under surface of the bird 
and on the thighs, that these parts have a naked appear¬ 
ance ; there is also a large callous patch over the sternum 
indicating the part of the bird that rests on the ground 
when it sits. The females of this species are of an 
uniform grey colour ; it is the male bird that is glossy 
black with the fine plumage consisting of those black 
and white feathers so much prized as personal ornaments 
by womankind. In times, however, of remote antiquity, 
the plumes of the ostrich were greatly esteemed, and, in 
the religious ritual of the ancient Egyptians, one erect 
feather was employed as the symbol of truth. It occurs 
depicted on the walls of old temples, on the head of 
Ma, the goddess of truth and justice ; and it is likewise 
sometimes represented on the head-dress of Osiris as 
typifying his justice as the judge of souls. The male has 
generally three or more females which all lay their eggs in 
one nest, which in their native deserts is merely a hole scrap¬ 
ed out in the sand, and the male bird takes his turn with 
the females in sitting upon the eggs. In confinement in 
this country, the hen appears to drop her eggs anywhere, 
and the following interesting story of the hatching of 
an egg so dropped, and the rearing of the chick is re¬ 
lated in Bosworth Smith’s Life of Lord Lawrence :— 
“Early in 1864, an ostrich domiciled in the Viceregal 
Park at Barrackpore, happened to deposit her first egg 
on the grass, exposed to the inclement climate of that 
time of the year, and the attacks of jackals and foxes. 
It was picked up by a girl of eight or nine years old, the 
daughter of the park-keeper, whose father had died 
shortly before. Proud of her discovery, she carried off 
