The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-05-11

large quantity of smooth stones, many of them brightly colored.
 Considerable misconceptIou prevails as to the manner In which the ostrich runs It seems to be still generally held that when running 1t spreads out Its wings. and, aided by them, skins lightly over the ground This Is not correct
 When bird really settles itself to run 1t holds its head lower than usual and little forward, with deep loop in the neck The neck vibrates sinuously, but the head remains steady, thus ena- bling the bird, even at top speed, to look around with unshaken glance in any direction. The wings lie along the sides about on a level with or little higher than the back, and are held loosely just free of the plunglng thigh" There Is no attempt to hold them extended, or to derive any assist ance from them as organs of flight.
 When an ostrich, after long run, is very tired, Its wings sometimes droop; this is due to exhaustion; they are nev- CT, by running bird exerting itself to the utmost, held out away from the sides to tighten its weight or increase its pace. But the wings appear to be of great service in turning. enabling the bird to double abruptly even when go- ing at top speed,
 As the breeding season approaches cock and hen will pair, and, having se- lected site congenial to their inclina- tion, proceed to make. nest believe that in all cases, in the first instance, one cock and one hen, having paired, select the site and make the nest.
 The nest Is simply hollow depres- sion, more or less deep according to the nature of the soil. It is made by the pair together. The cock goes down on his breast scraping or kicking the sand out backward with his feet, cutting the earth with his long and powerful nails. The hen stands by, often fluttering and clicking her wings, and helps by pick ing up the sand with her beak and dropping 1t irregularly near the edge of the growing depression.
 When satisfied with their work (and they are easily satisfied, often too easi- ly) the hen begins to lay an egg in the nest every other day. During the lay ing period the nest is often unattended, and is not slept on at night. A nest In which only one hen is laying contains on the average about fifteen eggs; but she often begins to sit before she has laid her full complement. Sometimes she will lay four or five after beginning to sit, though not often so many; some- times only one or two; while sometimes she will lay her full complement. The hen generally begins the sitting; she will occasionally sit for one or two days and nights before the cock takes his turn. When sitting assumes Its regular course, the hen sits from or 9 a. m. to about 4 p. m., and the cock from D. m. to about or g a. m The bird whose
 turn it is to be on the nest keeps its seat until the other arrives to relieve 1t, when they at once change places. It is quite incorrect to say that the cock alone sits, or that during the day
 the eggs are left to the heat of the sun.
 The cock and hen sit alternately. regu-
 iarly and steadily night and day, dur ing the whole period of incubation. The color of each Is admirably adapt | ed to the time spent on the nest, and furnishes interesting examples of pro- tective eoloration. It Is scarcely possi-
 ble to conceive more effective disguise than the sober brownish gray of the hen for day sitting, and the black of the cock for night. When on the nest the ostrich lays it's head neck and tall flat along the ground; its naked thighs" ere covered by the wings the plumes | lying close together on the earth almost hidden against the birds body. Thus only the low, long-curved body projects above the surrounding level The cock, at night, is, of course. almost perfectly l hidden, while the hen, at daytime,
 closely resembles a stone, bush, ant 1 heap or any little inequality of the weld. One Is surprised to see how close such a | large bird can lie to the ground and how even an ostrich farmer may almost walk over sitting hen in full daylight
 without seeing her. The cock Is simply | indstinguishab ble at night, except to the practised eye, and then only at few yards distance.
 | Every authority that have consulted
 holds that the ostrich Is polygamous,
 but the evidence against polygamy is very strong. I do not, however, think it | can be maintained that the monogamy
 of the ostrich Is proved absolutely, but l decidedly think that the arguments
 in its favor are much stronger than
 those in support of polygamy.-S. c.
 Cronwright Schreiner In the Zoologist