The Iron-eating Ostrich. 
295 
The female ostrich was supposed by some to hatch her 
eggs by the steadfast gaze of maternal affection. In con¬ 
sequence of this imaginary exploit the ostrich has been 
employed as an emblem of faith. 
Shakspeare has several references to the ostrich, 
j Harry Hotspur asks, Where are— 
“ The nimble-footed madcap Prince of Wales 
And his comrades, that daff’d the world aside 
And bid it pass ? ” 
He is answered :— 
“ All furnish’d, all in arms; 
All plumed, like estridges that with the wind, 
Baited like eagles having lately bathed.” 
(1 Henry IV., iv. 1, 97.) 
This is the reading of the Globe edition. Mr. Harting 
reads:— 
“ All plum’d like estridges that with the wind 
Bated; like eagles having lately bath’d.” 
In reference to this passage, Mr. Douce says it is by no 
means certain that the ostrich is meant. This critic 
considers that a line is probably lost from the passage, 
which, if supplied, would only the more clearly show that 
the falcon was here intended; “ estrich,” in the old books 
on falconry, denoted that bird, or rather, the goshawk. 
It is clear that in this latter sense the word estrich is used 
in the lines in Antony and Cleopatra 
“ To be furious 
Is to be frighted out of fear; and in that mood 
The dove will peck the estridge.” 
(Antony and Cleopatra, iii. 13, 195.) 
Mr. Dyce, on the other hand, explains estridge to mean 
ostrich. In support of this reading, a passage from 
Drayton’s Polyolhion may be quoted:— 
“ Prince Edward all in gold, as he great Jove had been: 
The Mountfords all in plumes, like estriges were seen, 
