Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1886-07-17
The Ostrich.

! In their native land, when an ostrich
is taken with desire to lay an egg,
which happens as often as the century
plant blooms with us, say once month,
the bird has to hunt for place to lay,
and sometimes hundreds of miles are
traversed over the shifting sands,
through binding storms, to find place
to deposit the egg; for be it known the
ostrich cannot sit down to lay an egg,
like the hen of commerce. If there
was an occasional high board fence in
Africa, that the bird might deposit an
egg on top of it, much of the worry OF
, the poor ostrich would be saved, but
they have to hunt place where, stand.
ing up, like printer setting type,
they can hide the egg where anybody
can find it. The emigrant ostrich has
much to be thankful for, on arriving
here. When an auntie ostrich wants to
lay, the old man ostrich goes to the
boss of the ostrich ran h, and by signs
and innuendoes, as it were, tells him
that the old lady desires an audience
with him, and he at once provides the
necessary step ladder, or whatever ar.
: ticle of farm machinery she desires for
q nest, and she goes into ret rement,
! while the old man ostrich stands off at
respectable distance, or walks around
with az "Pll-put- head on- any -man-os-
ich-that-shows-u p-around here" air,
and he puts his thumbs in his vest, or
under his wing, and swings his coat tail
/ feathers like Pat Rooney. 1t is touch
ing SIGHT when the old lady ostrich re-
turns from the second-story nest-the
iron seat of reaper is favorite place
for them to lay-but she does not
cackle like a hen that has laid an egg.
Many think that the female ostrich
cackles but she don't At least so l
am told. She gets off the nest and
walks around the egg three times,
gives the Masonic grand mailing sign
of distress, goes to q fen or gate, or
a wagon box, or whatever is handy, and
gives three distinct raps; the male os-
trlch, who is hard by, says who comes
there?" at the same time crossing his
legs like letter X. The female SAYS,
"a friend who desires admittance to
your noble order" and she curtis es,
when he says, ancient and honorable
female, you have been tried and found
worth two in the bush;' then he whacks
her over the head with his left wing, in
token that he is the boss, and they go
off arm in arm, singing 1--WE are dudes"
OF course, We who are familiar with
ostriches have to guess, to certain ex-
tent, what they are saying; but the
lrneuage 1 have put into their bills is
as near in accordance with their &C.
tions as it is possible for science, in its
present crude state, to get. When an
ostrich desires to sit, to hatch her
young, it is an interesting time on an
ostrich farm. With hens, when we de-
sire to prevent their sitting, we take
them Off the nest and give them a
douse in pail of water, or tie red
string to their legs, but with the ostrich
it is different. When she announces,
either through the personals in the
daily papers or otherwise, that she de-
Sires to sit, the em1grant ostrich has
got to be allowed to sit, or she will or
ganiZe strike and boycott the whole
human race. So her husband goes to
the ostrlchanarian surgeon, and he
feels OF her pulse, and looks at her
tongue, and if she is in the proper
bilious condition, he fixes up a rocking
chair with the proper number of eggs
himself away, and for the proper inter
val she retires from society, with all of
it's shams and frivolities, and becomes a
warm friend of those eggs. Meanwhile
the male ostrich goes to parties, and
makes himself quite fresh all around
the ranch. He gets around once day,
and lies to her as to where he has been,
and perhaps sits on the eggs for an
hour OF so, while she goes Off and eats
a length of stove-pipe or some hinges,
to keep her up during the trying Or
deal. She watches him from her nest
the best she can during the mournful
period of incubation, and shows plain
ly that she doesn't believe a word he
says, though she patiently picks strange
ostrich feathers off his coat, when he
shows up, and makes no sign except to
look at him in manner that betokens
that his conduct is killing her. But
finally she comes off the nest with a
lot of things that look as though a
party of old ladies had dropped their
knitting work, with the balls of yarn
and needles stuck in them. Young os-
triches are tough-looking customers,
but the mother il. proud of them. and
even the old man ostrich shows that he
feels as though it was the finest litter
of young ostriches on earth, and he
acts as though he alone was respon-
sible. In time they grow up full size,
and are ready for ostrich on toast, or
to show to the public at half dollar
head.-Geo. w. Peck.