Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-10-24
AGRICULTURAL.



Thc queer Trait- Of O-trichc- ~ seen
On Tnrm IN the Trnn-vnni, south
Africa.
1855 o. Pond boz urak,s Magazine.
Beyond slight hollow IN the ground, the
ostrich mnke- mo- nest. aud the farmer has
CO. bank this up all round To- prevent rain
from running into It, The eggs number II
Co ID. ou, being laid each day, the birds
standing over them To- shade them from the
sun until the v hole number are laid, aud
then the eggs are sat on continuously The
hen sits during th, day and the cock at
night aud it j, curiou, about dawn. il the
hen does not go voluntarily to the nest, to
ser thp cock get oh the eggs and literally
kick her ON Oh the nest A. general rule
the t,o bird, sit alternately, but sometimes
a hen is found no wall not be- persuai d to
ro near the nest. and the poor cock will sit
dal aud night TO- hatch his brood. until he is
nearly dead with exhaustion. When the
next brood time comes on, and the eggs are
all ready for sitting on. the cock usually
makes zap hi, mind to stand no such non
sou-c. mud gives the hen a thrashing that
iu her body After this the henusually sits
very patiently and suhmissively
An authority has sand that these birds
have mo- brains to speak Of only proper
ton of to 1900 against the parrot to ID.
] do NOT know about this but know that
their intelligence or cunning overthrows
all results of phrenulogy, and that their in
~tlurt- Or something. are acute enough To
make them choose the very thnnest place
iu the whole shell. when cracking the egg
o. lnvratc their chicks During the mid
day sun. tine cock will frequently stand
with putsprend wings over the hen ~ pro
tect her from its rays In about six weeks
the birds are Matched. aud from the very
start the little ones run about and swallow
small stones homes etc that they may find
W hen first matched. they are covered with
"a coarse leuthery down and look like young
pariridCes. At this period the cock is very
savage. and anyone approaching him with
out thorn bush will have hot time of it
iu fact. uo one ever goes into camp without
"a still branch of mimcsa thorn in his hand.
which. when attacked, he thrusts into the
birds face, aud before the sharp thorns it
will soon beat a retreat In every camp
there are "a number of vicious or rogue
birds that seem at certain odd times to get
make mtrth in the records of the life Of an
ostrich farmer
Three young ladies' were walking across
the veldt one afternoon armed with moth
mg more formidable than parasols. when an
irate bird who had broken camp espied
tn I'm. aud 90 use colonialsm started to
make hay lie spread his wings and feath-
ers. shook them violently, and started on a
swift run for them. Fortunately they had
seen him. and while he was engaged in his
prellmiuaries, they made their way to an
adl1cent quarry tree and managed to climb
INTO the lower branches before he reached
them II they had been orthodox society
ladies 1t would have been an awkward fix
For them, but being colonial girls they were
mp the tree like BOYS, and sat there in safety
while the ostrich ragged below. At first it
was rather good fun sitting there, watching
the savage bird tear up the ground with his
feet. or charge at the tree trunk in blind
rage hut "a tree hough Is not the most com
Portable seat for a lady. and as the sun began
to sink, and mo- aid appeared. the novelty
became Irksom- Night would bring no aid
for the bird, being a male and it being the
breeding season, he would not roost At
last a tlnttentot came ont on the veldt. and
united scream attracting his attention. he
and another hired man came with thorn
branches and drove the bird into camp
The girls we're "a week before their stiffness
disappeared
10 is not every one who gets off so easily
"a this ] once had a terrible fight with an
ola bird that, but for the timely aid of a
muscular Young lady. might have gone hard
with me wa, riding in from. one Of the
ueIghhnrin. farms about 10 miles away. and
W hen within short distance of lie Roux 5
farm met his daughter returning from one
OF her botanical expeditions through the
ki'ul~ or dry water courses which are very
rich ln iipra and mosses. | dismounted to
walk with her and gave the horse his head
knowing that he woud go straight home.
and could watch him all the way We
walked slowly along. gathering flower
here AMI piece of fern there when sud
denly ] heard "A rushing sound amid the
dense vegetation lining the sides of the dry
kioof this was followed by IA scrambling
over loose stones, and finally the head. fol
lowed by the body. of Old Rufus. the worst
rogue ostrich in the camp appeared upon
the scene He was an awful brute. always
breaking camp and doing some damage and
he had got me in a rather tight place, for |
had no time to cut a thorn and had only
my riding whip in my hand He weighed
about 300 pounds, and his head lowered
fully seven feet above his dangerous two
toej feet He gave me very little time to
consider ON d course of action he Just low
cred hIs head aud came at me His object
was to get within about TIN &c feet and then
strike at my face with his foot, like a game
cock strikes, a stroke which, if it caught
me, would probably tear flesh and sinew for
several feet, making a horrible wound
uft4lg / VA. M tl.;.
and telling Miss lie Roux to stand clear
waited for the beast, and whlrling the heavy
lash of my whip around my head / drew it
right across its eyes and then dropping the
whip closed with the bird. catching 1t bv
the neck with my left hand and by the wing
with my right hand. This brought me to
close quarters and prevented the bird using
his feet. 1t was no light task / had on
hand. l tripped my antagonist again and
again, but every time it recovered It's footing
We trashed around and around for fully 10
minutes, and began to feel my strength
giving out. The muscles of my fingers seem
ed relaxing, and twice | had to get a fresh
grip on the wing Joint, The bird seemed to
know this and redoubled its efforts TO get
me down, when it would have made short
work of me. ] began to wonder if Miss
lie RouX was out of danger vet. and felt
dizzy, when suddenly the bird seemed to
collapse, and l fell right across it on the
ground
Hold him another minute. There :" |
heard seli-satisiied voice say with IA laugh,
and ! either tainted for minute or two. or
lost my breath and became deoxygenized
A minute later sat up to find Miss lie Roux
sitting Toy my side, amusedly regarding Ru-
fus, who with his legs firmly tethered in
: a. al nv of nj an laab
presenting a most ridiculous object bv try
ing to rise up without the use of his legs
The plucky girl had watched her opportu-
nifty to help me, and had slipped the moose
round the birds legs Just in time When
stood up discovered my riding boots were
cut through in several places by the bird S
sharp toes, "a sort of promise of what l
might have expected If he had got IA fair
chance at me. / lit a cigar, and getting
hold of his head, blew smoke into his
throat until | nearly choked him and rem
dered him half drunk Then let his legs
loose, and 1t was d sight TO see the complete
ly cowed bully stagger across the veldt
From that day 10 the time when left the
farm old Rufus had no use for me, and gave
me "a very wide berth
Ostrlches are very peculiar birds They
will swallow anything that attracts them
Whelher eauahle or not, ana opened the
body of one 10 find quantity of broken
glass, a good-sized handful of nails. pair
of scissors, aud several metal capsules off
bottles, mixed with quantity Of stones
etc At one time l wore a rather large
scarf pin, made by a native out Of a garnet
] mad found m the Naal river, and going
into the camp one day, an ostrich was
helping % hold made dig at it. and swal-
lowed 10 before | knew il was frona I have
seen an ostrich seize lighted pipe from a