Western appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1885-18??, 1885-07-04
THE OSTRICH.
BY MRS. G. HALL.

| 81 AlltS. G. HALL.
Of all the birds that show the won
derful resources of infinite wisdom in
their construct on perhaps the ostrich
IS the queerest, asst certainly is the larg-
est, being among the birds what the
elephant is among animals-a full sized
male standing erect measuring eight feet
and more. With it's long head and
| neck it can overlook the tallest bushes
and reeds in which it chooses to hide,
and it's legs are said to be the swiftest
| in the world. "
Unlike other birds its wings are used
for running instead of flying, and with
them they can take at every step stride
OF from twelve to fourteen feet, almost
across good sized room.
The natives of Africa ride the ostrich,
and Arabs have been known to cross
the desert upon their backs, though
they sometimes run at frightful
speed. When in motion the legs are
invisible, like the spokes of wheel,
which gives the appearance of flying at
little distance from the ground,
This strange bird seldom drinks, and
its food is as often old iron and brass
as anything else. The ostrich swal-
lows IRON and great many other hard
things just as a hen swallows stones,
and it is said by those who have watch
ed their habits thatth will not discrim-
mate between cold and hot; even red
hot iron they have been known to swal-
low. The appetite of the ostrich is as
Unsuitable as their capacity is great,
and almost anything that comes in their
| way becomes their food-old RAGS,
newspapers, bones, wood, stones and
even glass! - r.
AS pebbles and stones are used to
grind up the food Of the hen, all these
hard things answer to the same pur-
pose to the ostrich. Being a great
thief it will make way in a moment
with anything that comes within it's
reach, even to gold watch and chain,
which one of these birds once purloined
from the pocket of a gentleman who at
some exhibition approached it too close
! ly. At a single mouthful it was gone
out of sight.
The natural food of the ostrich is
| grass, grain, fruits, rats, mice, insects
in fact, anything of the sort that they
can get, and they can go long time
without drink, altogether if need be-!
Yet they really have something as a
substitute, which grows in the desert, a
sort of wild melon that absorbs the
moisture of the atmosphere in the cool
| nights-truly a water melon to travel
ers as well, who often are astonished
to find them in places where they
would not believe drop of water ever
came.
The eggs of the ostrich are immense,
single egg being equal to two dozen
hens eggs! The mother bird hollows
out place in the sand and lays her
eggs in it. By day she abandons them
to the heat of the sun, which in those
countries is very great, but always at
night she or the male will cover them.
They are very social birds, often
using the same nest in company until
there are from sixty to seventy eggs
in a nest of several feet in diameter.
Several eggs are left outside, and are
not meant to be Matched, as you will
see.
When the ostrich begins to sit she
is still laying, and as it takes nearly
| two months for an egg to hatch, they
cannot all come out together. Now
see what wise provision. AS soon
as the young ostrich appears, which is
then the size Of a good fat hen, the
mother takes it to one of the scattered
eggs, which she breaks for it's food.
In this way the little ostriches have
something to live upon until the whole
family is Matched and the mother at
liberty to look after them. Often the
bird begins to lay before she has
thought Of a nest. Travellers finding
them in the desert have probably given
rise to the story that they are apt to
forsake their eggs.
You ask IT the eggs are good for
food? The Hottentots and s'Bushmenn
think so. A lean Bushman will eat
one of these huge eggs at a meal,
cooked in their own peculiar way; and
this is the way he hunts them When
he finds a nest he pulls off his
/ pantaloons, made Of skins rudely sewn
together, and ties them at the ankles,
making sort of forked bag, This he
I fills with the eggs, setting it astride
his shoulders if walking, and if on
horseback over the horse, like a pair
OF saddle-bags. The shell is so very
tough that it will bear great deal OF
jolting.
This shell is put to various uses by
the tribes inhabiting the countries
where it is found fashioned into
bowls and ladies', and with an opening
faf. Il 4 i