The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1878-02-07
OSTRiCHES.

These birds, OF some at least Of the
specie, are the source of a large and
valuable trade, but it is inevitable that
they must die out with the progress of
civilization unless they can be proved in
domestic state. In Asia the ostrich is
becoming rarer and rarer every year; at
the Cape it has been found necessary to
afford some protection to the bird by
Legislative enactments, while In other
parts of Africa its range is to be consid-
erably restricted. In South America
so great has been the slaughter of the
rhea within the last few years that a
person may now ride hundreds of
leagues from Buenos Ayres without
seeing single bird; and like state
ment is made with regard to the emu,
which is rapidly becoming scarce in
Australia. ...
Ostrich farming is carried on with
considerable success In Cape Colony,
where there are now upwards of $4,000
tame birds. The writer's, by the way,
affirm that the feathers of the domesti-
Gated ostrich are inferior in quality to
those of the wild bird; but they pub
lish report prepared by DR.. Ather-
stone, of Graham's Town, in which this
statement is contradicted, and it would
seem that the value of the plumage de-
pends in great measure upon wise
management and good feeding. The os-
trich has the reputation of eating any
thing that comes in its way. Large
heaps of stones are required at the farms
and one writer observes that the young
birds relish small nails amazingly. He
has seen tame ostrich snatch bunch
Of keys, and swallow them with the
greatest gusto. The domestic character
, of the bird is not elevated. Unlike
the emu, which is strictly homogeneous,
it prides itself on having, many wives.
The speed of the ostrich IS reckoned at
about twenty-six miles per hour, and a
trader in South Africa observes that he
never saw the horse the rider Of which
could with truth say that he ran his
game down fairly. Swift and powerful
as they are, the birds are easily domes-
ticated and need only low fence to
keep them from straying. An os-
trich in motion does not rise upon the
wing; he skins, as it were along the sur
face of the ground, and if he meets with
any obstacle, such as fence, he will
skirt along it, but never attempt to
| cross it, although he will cross creek,
| the two banks of which are nearly on
level, by flying, Their keep is not ex-
| pensive. and the meat is said to be pal
| atable and in flavor not unlike your
young beef. From a gastronomic point
of view dom mesticated bird, after hav-
! ing fed on clover, lucerne, and grain, far
excels in tenderness and flavor wild
caught bird which has been subsisting
on such scanty and innutrtious fare
as may be picked up in an African
desert.
| Ample space is required, and some of
the farmers are said to enclose from L.
600 to 5000 acres. The feathers are
plucked twice a year, and the labor is
not accomplished without bruised hands
and arms. Ostriches are very pugna-
cious and at times dangerous but, ac-
cording to DR.. Atherstone's report,
"they are perfectly in your power if you
seize them by the neck; you may then
choke them as far as you please until
you find them powerless, and you can
then run away" We once saw some
twenty nearly full-grown birds waltzing
! together. They began with sort of
siding slow revolution on their toes,
moving their wings gently up and down,
and presently they seem to get into the
spirit of the thing, without the aid Of
any fiddles that we saw, and spun round
at a rate that would have astonished any
one but dancing dervish. In dancing
they swept round and round without
ever coming into contact with each
other.
Next in size and bulk to the African
ostrich ranks the emu, which has now
been driven into the far interior of Aus
tralia. The bird is readily tanned, and