Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-06-19
life ON AN OSTRICH FARM.
Something About the Strange Bird of the Desert
Its Habits and Many Peculiaritles.

most curious OF all diliiiIsiiS A'iSAJ'
the camel, and that greatest OF BIRDS
now existing. the ostrich, says the
Memphis Appeal. Some years before
the Civil War camels were bought IN
Egypt by the United States war de-
partment and taken 20 the southwest in
what is now Arizona to see whether
they would thrive and also to test their
availability for pack animals for use
for transportation purposes across the
arid portions of this country. There
are now hundreds of these animals in
that section and some of them have
strayed over into Mexico, but they have
| not been put to any practical use.
There are three ostrich farms in the
United States, two being in Florida and
one in California. OF the two in Flori-
da that at Palm Beacn is really a
branch of the one at Jacksonville, SO
! the latter is much more important. L
have several tines visited the farms at
both these points and did SO again re-
Gently. The Jacksonville farm is stu
ated very delightfully."- upon the banks
of the st. Johns river, in the suburbs or
| the city, and it causes quite an odd
| sensation to alisht from the street car
and walk into the grounds and witness
the scene which greets the eye, hundreds
| of Ostriches, large and small, being IN
sight. The grounds cover about TWEEN
| ty acres and are shaded by grand i've
oaks, under which the grass Is of the
| greeneSt. In the center, with high
and strong fence around ii Is an oval
| in which are many scores OF young
| birds, most of them almost as large as
| the full-grOwn ones. Outside of this
| oval is the racetrack in which the run
ming or trOtting ostriches are trained,
and on two sides of it are the breeding
lens, in each of which the great birds
are in pairs, while on the ground are
their enotmous eggs, which are always
in such +fequest for breeding or when
| blown.
| Perhaps it Is as we'll to say some
thing about the ostrich. This bird Is
of the order of runners" The bill is
Of moderate length, broad and very
flexible, the head extraordinarily small,
the neck about four feet long. the legs
long and very robust. almost entirely
Eaked, the feet having only two toes, Of
(which the inner is by faf,th larger;
| the wings are too short for flight, but
fgive Valuable aid in running. The
plumes dreop and are very flexible. be-
ing especially long, soft and dropping
| on the wings and tail. The ostrich full
| grown is eight feet high and weighs 800
pounds, tie male being larger than the
female and having the lower part, par
| ticularly the front of the legs. very red
and the head red. the general plumage
| glossy black. with a Sprinkling of white
feathers, The long plumes of the wings
| and tdil being white. occasionally with
black markings, The female is Of a So
| Der brown gray and in the case of the
| very young birds there is a darker gray,
| more like n brown. the young birds be-
| ing entirely covered with feathers, even
| the head and neck, while in the older
ones there is merely thin and short
down. under which the skin is entirely
visible. The wing muscles are remark
ably weak. but the leg muscles
are prodigiously strong. giving the
ostrich wonderful speed in run
ming and also enabling it to strike
such blow with it's foot as to make it
| too formidable for the leopard and
some other beasts Of prey to assail it,
dogs by a single stroke of the foot The
|
furnished with lashes. No bird has 50
ugly a head and the eye has n wicked
| lock which makes the bird appear even
| more formidable. while at the same
time the extremely small head gives it
| the appearance of idiOCy. The sight Of
The ostrich is extremely keen. Each fe-
| male ordinarily lays about ten eggs,
| which are placed on end in a shallow
| nest scratched in the sand, while
| around about other eggs are generally
| found scattered. In Africa the people
believe that these outside eggs are in
birds. but this belief has no foundation.
| tended as food for the very young
| The females frequently nest together.
| and 1t seems from the best evidence
| that the scattered eggs are laid by fe-
| males waiting while the nest is occu-
pied by another ostrich and are regard
| ed by the birds as lost and are given by
them no more attention.
Another old story is that the ostrich
| leaves its eggs to be Matched by the
| heat of the sun entirely, but this is I'M
| true. Both parents assist in the task
of watching the eggs, the male and
| female sitting alternately on them for
I
devoting the night to this and the
female aiding in the daytime. The
| ostrich swallows large stones to aid
| the gizzard in cutting up the food, and
| it will eat in confinement anything
which comes it's way. 1t can live a
long time without ware~ It's true food
| is entirely vegetable. mainly grasses
and seeds. The speed of the bird is
said to be in the first OF it's race not
less than sixty miles an hour, but it
| cannot hold out long, for one reason
because 1t runs in 4 curve so that
| those who hunt 1t on horseback can
head it off. A popularity is that the
voice of the bird is so deep and hollow
that 1t takes practicad ear to dis
tinguish it from the roar of the lion
1t fire quently cackles, and when en-
ragged Kisses SO loudly as to be heard
for long distances. The egg weighs
about three pounds, cqualing about
twenty-four ordinary hen eggs.
The first thing which strikes a visitor
is the enormous size Of the birds;
secondly. their nakainess third. their