The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1891-12-23
THE INTELLIGENT OSTRICH.
He Exercises Much DISCRIMINATION in the
Care of His Rising Family.

Americans in general must be in
possession of vast fund of varied, ac-
curate and well-authenticated ignor-
ance about ostriches. This is the con-
clusion reached by reporter after an
hours conversation with professional
ostrich farmer. The gentleman is Mr..
H. G. Reid. who paid $12, 600 and gave
five years hard work to acquire what
he knows. He is Scotchman of edu-
cation and intelligence and has rare
faculty of making people take an in
terest in what interests him. He has
spent several months in teaching Cali
fornians how to get a little profit out
of ostrich farming, and it was his ex-
perience in California that led him to
giva the data for this article.
After paying his respects to the un-
scientific practices of the California
ostrich fanciers, Mr.. Reid gave some
interesting data about the habits of the
birds. He has small respect for the
intellectual endowments of the os-
trich. THE ratio of the paroquet's
brain to his entire bulk is as l to 4S.
that of the eagle as l to 80 and that of
the ostrich as l to 1900" said Mr..
Reid, $50 one doesn't expect him to a.
tain to any sublime heights of culture.
And yet to watch the male and female
ostrich about the nest is to conceive
the greatest respect for their propaga-
tive instinct. The ostrich egg, from
the time it is laid until incubation is
complete, requires daily attention.
The idea that it is hatched in the sand
by the heat of the sun is nonsense.
That notion comes of the fact that the
bird, being very timid. runs away on
the approach of any creature it con-
ceives to be a foe. and before going
usually rakes the sand up around and
over the nest to retain the heat which
the eggs have received from its body,
and the discovery of such deserted
nests nearly hatched out has further
strengthened the fallacy.
But the fact is that the ostrich egg
requires turning daily during incuba-
tion, which lasts forty-two days. re-
quires slight moisture, which it re-
ceives from contact with the bird S
body. and requires ventilation. which
the bird provides for by standing over
the nest and turning its body about to
shade the eggs from the sun. A grad
ual decrease in the temperature of the
eggs is also imperative. For the first
two weeks it is 104 deg Fahrenheit; for
the third week. 1O2 deg; fourth. 100
deg; fifth. SO deg; sixth, SO deg. This
is provided by nature in the steadily
falling temperature of the birds body,
due to the receipt of less nourishment
than at other times, and in the incuba-
tor it must be looked after by careful
attendants. Now, does anybody sup
! pose that all these conditions can be
met by simply heaping the eggs with
sand? Yet the ostrich watches all
these points.
1.-The male, by the way, does most
of the hatching-sitting on the nest
sixteen hours out of the twenty-four-
and l have seen him hold his post for
twenty hours when the hen refused to
come and relieve him. And when the
hen leaves the nest before her turn
| comes to seek food the male will at
once take her place. although she does
not show the same solicitude when by
any chance he deserts the eggs. And.
strangely enough, though the ostrich
often resents the invasion of his corral
by strangers at other times than DUR
ing incubation. he will allow any one
to approach the nest while he is on
guard without taking the slightest of
fense.
1T is curiosity to watch him as
sist the hatching-out process. As soon
as he sees the break or toe sticking
through the shell he will take the egg
up by the protruGing bill or foot, lift
it two or three feet and drop it on the
ground until it breaks. l have seen
him release two chicks at once by
dropping one egg upon the other in
this way