THE LIVING WORLD. 
447 
The food of the ostrich consists of the tops of the various shrubby plants 
which even the most arid parts of South Africa produce in abundance. This 
bird is so easily satisfied in regard to water that he is constantly to be found in 
the most parched and desolate tracts which even the antelopes and the beasts 
of prey have deserted. 
When not hatching they are frequently seen in troops of thirty or forty 
together, or amicably associated with herds of zebras or quaggas, their fellow- 
tenants of the wilderness. If caught young the ostrich is easily tamed; but 
it does not appear that any attempt has been made to apply his great strength 
and swiftness to any purpose of practical utility. 
The ostrich is valued not only for the incomparable plumage of its wings, 
but also for its flesh, especially the 
young, which are said to be most 
palatable. In the time of Rome’s 
grandeur the ostrich was highly es¬ 
teemed as a rarely rich dish. Apicius 
has left us a recipe for making sauce 
for the bird, and Heliogabalus is 
distinguished in history for having 
dressed the brains of six hundred 
ostriches in one dish. Among all 
people now the eggs are greatly 
prized though too expensive a luxury 
to be often indulged in, notwithstand¬ 
ing the fact that one egg would 
suffice to satisfy fhe hunger of a 
dozen men. 
There are several ways of hunt¬ 
ing the ostrich , but the two most 
popular with the Hottentots is by 
riding the bird down, and by stalk¬ 
ing it, the hunter being covered with 
an ostrich's skin and passing a stick 
up through the neck with a handle at 
the lower end, by which he is able 
to counterfeit every motion of the 
bird. 
Although as before stated the ostrich is the swiftest runner of all creatures, 
he is stupid, which weakness is taken advantage of, as will be seen. When 
the mounted hunter discovers an ostrich he sets out after his quarry in a slow 
gallop, so as not to give any unnecessary alarm. The bird does not take 
immediately to flight but canters off apparently conscious of his ability to 
distance pursuit. As the hunter draws gradually nearer, the ostrich 
increases its speed, but instead of running directly away from the enemy it 
moves in a zig-zag direction, so that the experienced hunter saves his horse 
and, by cutting across the tracks, maintains his distance until the ostrich 
becomes fatigued and abandoning further effort at escape stops and burrows its 
head in the sand, presenting its body an easy target for the persistent sports¬ 
man. 
