OSTRICHES. 
559 
instances where even the constitution of an ostrich could not resist the effects of 
some of the substances swallowed. Among the ordinary food of the ostrich are 
comprised small mammals and birds, snakes, lizards, and insects, as well as grass, 
leaves, fruits, berries, and seeds. Although they can go for protracted periods 
without it, and will not wander far out of their way to procure it, yet when water 
is at hand, ostriches will drink constantly. Young ostriches are said to be silent, 
but the old cocks utter a loud cry, which is likened by Livingstone to the roar of 
the lion, and by Canon Tristram to the lowing of oxen; this cry being generally 
uttered in the early morning. The ostrich’s chief mode of attack or defence is by 
kicking with its immensely powerful legs, although, in the fights in which the 
cocks periodically indulge, the birds also peck at one another with their beaks. 
Much interest attaches to the breeding-habits of the ostrich, although from 
many of the accounts having been derived from native sources, very erroneous 
notions are prevalent on this subject. At the pairing-season, which takes place 
early in the spring, each cock, after having gone through various performances to 
attract their attention, and frequently many contests with his rivals, associates 
with three or four hens. All these hens lay in a single nest, which consists solely 
of a large hollow excavated in the sand. There is still some uncertainty as to the 
number of eggs laid in a nest, although there is little doubt that this has been 
much exaggerated. As many as twenty are, however, frequently incubated; but 
in addition to these it appears that a certain number are deposited round the edge 
of the nest, which are never intended to be hatched, and are stated to serve as food 
for the young. Although it is generally stated that both sexes take equal shares 
in the work of incubation, this is incorrect, the cock-bird (as among all the other 
members of the subclass) undertaking almost the entire task. He sits, for instance, 
throughout the night, when the nest must be protected from prowling jackals; and 
in such regions, as the eggs are incubated by day as well as by night, he is only 
relieved for short periods during the day in order to procure food. Incubation 
during the day takes place, however, only in the cooler districts of the ostrich’s 
habitat; in the hotter regions the eggs being left to themselves, with a covering of 
sand during the day. 
Capture and As already mentioned, advantage is taken of the peculiar habits 
Domestication. 0 f the ostrich to surround its flocks by a party of mounted men, 
and by this method many are killed in Africa. There are, however, many other ways 
of capture. For instance, the bushmen are or were in the habit of dressing them¬ 
selves in the skin of an ostrich, and thus disguised penetrating into the midst of a 
flock, when the birds were despatched one after another by means of poisoned 
arrows. The hunter must, however, take care to keep to the leeward of his 
victims. In Somaliland the natives hunt the ostrich on camels; while in Arabia 
and the Sahara it is ridden down on horseback. The bushmen and Somalis also 
resort to the aid of pitfalls; while the lasso is employed by the Hadendowa 
Arabs of the Sudan, and some other tribes; and in Senaar a curved stick is used in 
boomerang-fashion for the same purpose. In Namaqualand the birds are either 
surrounded by a cordon of men on foot, who gradually close in upon the flock; or 
they are driven by mounted hunters past concealed relays of their companions, 
who in turn take up the pursuit till their victims fall through sheer exhaustion. 
