The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-06-23
The schreiner Ostrich.

Mr.. Cronwright-Schre who is in
Africa, has seen his ostriches swallow
tennis balls, oranges, chicken Zones,
little turtles, cats, peach baskets, pieces
Of wire fence and bullets Sometimes
the ostrich chokes on something or other.
The ostrich farmer cuts q hole in his
throat, takes out the object, and the bird
stretches his neck to get it ready for a
second try a swallowing! The strength
of the ostrich is immense; while running
at full speed no fence can stop it, with
one stroke of a foot it will knock over a
man. Mr.. Cronwright has seen an ostrich
annoyed at sight of locomotive attack
it gayly when the engine wa running at
full speed; it is true that the ostrich did
OF come out ahead in that encounter.
1t is a very graceful as well as a very
strong bird, and there is no sight more
entertaining than an ostriches' dancing
party. They are particularly fond OF the
waltz and will whirl until they are dizzy.
The male ostrich in his courtship season
uses thousand airs and PAGES, spread
ing his wings, strutting, kneeling with
his wings in air and pluming himself
like canary. He is good husband and
father, helps his wife make the nest and
watches with her during the period of in
cubation. He Is very patient and COM
panionable while she is sitting, but If by
accident an egg falls out Of the nest, he
eats it up with no pretence of sentiment.
Mr. Cronwright says it is a mistake to
consider the ostrich polygamous; he is
by temperament as homogeneous as
turtle dove--at least when raised in the
English colonies. When occasionally, he
makes the domestic ROSTERS experiment.
OF barnyard harem, the quarrelling
among the hens gives him at first q
chance to eat up great number of
omelettes picked up from the big broken
eggs tumbling from the nest Of contest,
for his ostrich hens all insist on sitting
on the same nest, with sometimes as
many as seventy eggs. Very soon the
male gets tired Of the contest, quits the
domestic broil altogether and goes off by
himself.
1t is very pleasant thus to CLEAN bits
Of illuminating knowledge from Mr..
Cronwright-Sch article on os-
triches in the Scientific Review. While
Mrs. Olive Cronwright-S chreiner has
been busy with terrible moral South AZ
rican problems, the male head of the
ranch has been raising his ostriches
For nine years he has pursued this inter
esting occupation and his study of os-
triches. His article is study which
shows the zeal of naturalist and of
landed proprietor. All the petty para
graphs about the Cronwright- Schreiners
seem to be knocked in the head by the
Tapping Of ostrich wings. The most
casual reader can see the dignity of the
hyphen Tin a not uncommon European
fashion of adding the wife's name to the
husband's), and also the dignity of the
self supporting masculinity of the novel;
lists husband, catching ostriches to pay
the household bills while his wife sets
her fervent pen to work for the oppressed
There is interest in the fresh support he
brings to the popular belief that there is
nothing that an ostrich can't digest
The ropes and soap that Mark Twain was
hungry enough to eat aboard ship would
be nothing to an ostrich. He would look
upon them merely as hors d'oeuvres.