THE OSTRICH AND THE CASSOWARY.
Size of the Ostrich--Its astonishing Swiftness--Ostrich Hunting--
Stratagem of the Ostrich for protecting its Young--Points of
Resemblance with the Camel--Its Voracity--Ostrich Feathers--
Domestication of the Ostrich in Algeria--Poetical Legend of the
Arabs--The American Rheas--The Cassowary--The Australian Emu.
In the African plains and wildernesses, where the lion seeks his
prey, where the pachyderms make the earth tremble under their weighty
strides, where the giraffe plucks the high branches of the acacia, and
the herds of the antelope bound along: there also dwells the Ostrich,
the king of birds, if size alone gives right to so proud a title; for
neither the condor nor the albatross can be compared in this respect
to the ostrich, who raises his head seven or eight feet above the
ground, and attains a weight of from two to three hundred pounds. His
small and weak wings are incapable of carrying him through the air, but
their flapping materially assists the action of his legs, and serves
to increase his swiftness when, flying over the plain, he ‘scorns the
horse and its rider.’ His feet appear hardly to touch the ground, and
the length between each stride is not unfrequently from twelve to
fourteen feet, so that for a time he might even outstrip a locomotive
rushing along at full speed.
In Senegal, Adanson saw a couple of ostriches so tame that two negro
boys could sit upon the largest of them. ‘Scarce had he felt the
weight,’ says the venerable naturalist, ‘when he began to run with all
his might, and thus they rode upon him several times round the village.
I was so much amused with the sight, that I wished to see it repeated;
and in order to ascertain how far the strength of the birds would
reach, I ordered two full-grown negroes to mount upon the smallest of
them and two others upon the strongest. At first they ran in a short
gallop with very small strides, but after a short time they extended
their wings like sails, and scampered away with such an amazing
velocity that they scarcely seemed to touch the ground. Whoever has
seen a partridge run knows that no man is able to keep up with him, and
were he able to make greater strides his rapidity would undoubtedly be
still greater. The ostrich, who runs like a partridge, possesses this
advantage, and I am convinced that these two birds would have distanced
the best English horses. To be sure they would not have been able to
run for so long a time, but in running a race to a moderate distance
they would certainly have gained the prize.’
Not only by his speed is the ostrich able to baffle many an enemy, the
strength of his legs also serves him as an excellent means of defence;
and many a panther or wild dog coming within reach of his foot has had
reason to repent of its temerity. But in spite of the rapidity of his
flight, during which he frequently flings large stones backwards with
his foot, and in spite of his strength, he is frequently obliged to
succumb to man, who knows how to hunt him in various ways.
Unsuspicious of evil, a troop of ostriches wanders through the plain,
the monotony of which is only relieved here and there by a clump of
palms, a patch of candelabra-shaped tree-euphorbias, or a vast and
solitary baobab. Some leisurely feed on the sprouts of the acacias,
or the hard leaves of the mimosas, others agitate their wings and
ventilate the delicate plumage, the possession of which is soon to
prove so fatal to them. No other bird is seen in their company--for no
other bird leads a life like theirs; but the zebra and the antelope are
fond of associating with the ostrich, desirous perhaps of benefiting
by the sharpness of his eye, which is capable of discerning danger
at the utmost verge of the horizon. But in spite of its vigilance,
misfortunes are already gathering round the troop, for the Bedouin
has spied them out, and encircles them with a ring of his fleetest
coursers. In vain the ostrich seeks to escape. One rider drives him
along to the next, the circle gradually grows narrower and narrower,
and, finally, the exhausted bird sinks upon the ground, and receives
the death-blow with stoical resignation.
To surprise the cautious seal the northern Eskimo puts on a skin of the
animal, and imitating its motions mixes among the unsuspicious herd;
and, in South Africa, we find the Bushman resort to a similar stratagem
to outwit the ostrich. He forms a kind of saddle-shaped cushion, and
covers it over with feathers, so as to resemble the bird. The head and
neck of an ostrich are stuffed, and a small rod introduced. Preparing
for the chase, he whitens his black legs with any substance he can
procure, places the saddle on his shoulders, takes the bottom part of
the neck in his right hand, and his bow and poisoned arrows in his
left. Under this mask he mimics the ostrich to perfection, picks away
at the verdure, turns his head as if keeping a sharp look out, shakes
his feathers, now walks, and then trots, till he gets within bow-shot,
and when the flock runs, from one receiving an arrow, he runs too.
Sometimes, however, it happens that some wary old bird suspects the
cheat, and endeavours to get near the intruder, who then tries to get
out of the way, and to prevent the bird from catching his scent, which
would at once break the spell.
The ostrich generally passes for a very stupid animal, yet to protect
its young it has recourse to the same stratagems which we admire in the
plover, the oyster-catcher,[35] and several other strand-birds. Thus
Professor Thunberg relates that riding past a place where a hen-ostrich
sat on her nest, the bird sprang up and pursued him, in order to draw
off his attention from her young ones or her eggs. Every time the
traveller turned his horse toward her, she retreated ten or twelve
paces, but as soon as he rode on, pursued him again.
The instinct of the ostrich in providing food for its young is no less
remarkable, for it is now proved that this bird, far from leaving its
eggs, like a cold-blooded reptile, to be vivified by the sun, as was
formerly supposed, not only hatches them with the greatest care, but
even reserves a certain portion of eggs to provide the young with
nourishment when they first burst into life: a wonderful provision,
when we consider how difficult it would be for the brood to find any
other adequate food in its sterile haunts. In Senegal, where the heat
is extreme, the ostrich, it is said, sits at night only upon those eggs
which are to be rendered fertile, but in extratropical Africa, where
the sun has less power, the mother remains constant in her attentions
to the eggs both day and night.
The number of eggs which the ostrich usually sits upon is ten; but the
Hottentots, who are very fond of them, upon discovering a nest, seize
fitting opportunities to remove one or two at a time; this induces the
bird to deposit more, and in this manner she has been known, like the
domestic hen, to lay between forty and fifty in a season.
Almost as soon as the chicks of the ostrich (which are about the size
of pullets) have escaped from the shell, they are able to walk about
and to follow the mother, on whom they are dependent for a long time.
And here again we find a wonderful provision of nature in providing the
young of the ostrich with a colour and a covering admirably suited to
the localities they frequent. The colour is a kind of pepper and salt,
agreeing well with the sand and gravel of the plains, which they are
in the habit of traversing, so that you have the greatest difficulty
in discerning the chicks even when crouching under your very eyes. The
covering is neither down nor feathers, but a kind of prickly stubble,
which no doubt is an excellent protection against injury from the
gravel and the stunted vegetation amongst which they dwell.
The ostrich resembles in many respects the quadrupeds, and particularly
the camel, so that it may almost be said to fill up the chasm which
separates the mammalia from the birds, and to form a connecting
link between them. Both the ostrich and the dromedary have warty
excrescences on the breast upon which they lean whilst reposing, an
almost similarly formed foot, the same muscular neck; and when we
consider that they both feed upon the most stunted herbage, and are
capable of supporting thirst for an incredibly long time, being, in
fact, both equally well formed for living on the arid plains, it is
certainly not to be wondered at that the ancients gave the ostrich a
name betokening this similitude (_Struthio camelus_), and that the
fancy of the Arabs ascribes its original parentage to a bird and to a
dromedary.
It is difficult to ascertain what the tastes of the ostrich may be
while roaming the desert, but when in captivity no other bird or
animal shows less nicety in the choice of its food, as it swallows
with avidity stones, pieces of wood and iron, spoons, knives, and
other articles of equally _light_ digestion that may be presented
to it. ‘Nothing,’ says Methuen, speaking of a domesticated ostrich,
‘disturbed its digestion--dyspepsia (happy thing) was undreamt of in
its philosophy. One day a Muscovy-duck brought a promising race of
ducklings into the world, and with maternal pride conducted them forth
into the yard. Up with solemn and measured stride walked the ostrich,
and, wearing the most mild and benignant cast of face, swallowed them
all, one after the other, like so many oysters, regarding the indignant
hissings and bristling plumage of the hapless mother with stoical
indifference.’
The costly white plumes of the ostrich, which are chiefly obtained from
the wings, have been prized in all ages for the elegance of their long,
waving, loose, and flexible barbs. From seventy to ninety feathers go
to the pound; but a single bird seldom furnishes more than a dozen,
as many of them are spoilt by trailing or some other accident. The
vagrant tribes of the Sahara sell their ostrich plumes to the caravans
which annually cross the desert, and convey them to the ports of the
Mediterranean. Here they were purchased as far back as the twelfth
or thirteenth century, by the Pisanese or Genoese merchants, through
whose agency they ultimately crossed the Alps to decorate the stately
_Burggräfinnen_ of the Rhine, or the wives of the opulent traders of
Augsburg or Nuremberg. At a still more remote period the Phœnicians
brought ostrich-feathers from Ophir to Tyre, whence they were
distributed among the princes of the Eastern world.
In Algeria, the ostrich is often domesticated, particularly on
account of its eggs, which weigh three pounds, and are equivalent to
twenty-four of the common fowl’s eggs. According to Andersson they
afford an excellent repast; while Dr. Livingstone tells us they have a
strong disagreeable flavour, which only the keen appetite of the desert
can reconcile one to. The flesh of the ostrich is decidedly coarse, but
as there is no accounting for tastes, the Romans seem to have prized
it; and Firmus, one of their pseudo-emperors, most likely desirous of
emulating the gormandising powers of the bird on which he fed, is said
to have devoured a whole ostrich at _one_ meal.
A legend of the Arabs gives the following poetical account of the
origin of the crippled wings and ruffled coat of the ostrich. ‘About a
thousand years ago,’ say the wandering tribes of Kordofan, ‘the ostrich
still resembled the Hubahra or Arabian bustard, and both together
inhabited the grassy plains. Then also he flew remarkably well, nor
was he so shy as at present, when he avoids the approach of man with
gigantic strides, but lived in friendship and confidence both with him
and the other animals of the desert. One day the Hubahra thus addressed
him: “Dear brother! if thou art inclined we will, inschalla! (with
God’s permission) fly to-morrow to the river, bathe, drink, and then
return to our young!” “Well,” replied the ostrich; “we will do so:”
but he did not add--“inschalla!” for he was arrogant, and did not bow
before the might of the all-merciful and eternal God, “whose praise
the angels in heaven proclaim, and whose glory the thunder in the
clouds celebrates,”[36] as hitherto he only had known His inexhaustible
goodness, and prided himself upon his own strength and his strong
wings. On the following morning they prepared for their journey, but
the Hubahra before starting said, “Be issm lillahi!” (in the name of
Allah) while the ostrich remained mute, and then they both flew towards
the eye of God (the sun). And the ostrich rose higher and higher, and
striking the air with his mighty wings left the Hubahra far behind.
His heart was full of arrogance; he forgot the blessings of Him who
is the fountain of all blessings, and relied only upon himself. But
the measure of God’s mercy was filled to overflowing, and the anger of
Allah was roused against the offender. Higher and higher he rose, as
if he wanted to reach the sun. But now the avenging angel of the Lord
approached, and withdrew the veil which separated him from the flaming
orb. In an instant his wings were burnt, and he fell miserably down
upon the earth. Even now he cannot fly; even now thou seest his singed
feathers; even now he fears God’s vengeance, and endeavours to escape
it with gigantic strides. Therefore, O man! let the bird of the desert
serve thee as a warning example: humble thyself before the power of
the Almighty, and never undertake anything without saying beforehand
“inschalla!” that the blessing of God may attend thy work.’ There is
evidently a great resemblance between this legend and the story of
Icarus, but the Arab tale gives an excellent moral lesson, and is
imbued with a deep religious feeling, of which we find no traces in the
Greek.
The _Rheas_, from their size and similar habits, have been styled
the ostriches of the New World, though differing in many essential
characters. One species, the _Rhea Darwinii_, inhabits Patagonia,
while the Emu or Nandu (_Rhea Americana_) is found throughout the
whole eastern part of South America, from Buenos Ayres to the Orinoco,
wherever open plains or savannas invite it to take up its residence.
The nandu is not near so tall as the true ostrich, scarcely rising
above four feet, and is of a uniform grey colour except on the back,
which has a brown tint. The back and rump are furnished with long
feathers, but not of the same rich and costly kind as those which adorn
the African ostrich. Its feeble wings merely serve to accelerate its
flight, serving it as oars or sails, particularly when running with
the wind. ‘It is not easily caught,’ says the Prince of Neu Wied, ‘as
it not only runs very fast, but in zigzag lines, so that the horse,
rendered giddy by so many evolutions, at length drops down with its
rider.’
The Indian Archipelago and New Holland have likewise their peculiar
struthionidous birds.
The Galeated Cassowary (_Casuarius galeatus_), thus called from its
head being surmounted by a kind of horny helmet, is a native of Java
and the adjacent isles. The skin of the head and upper part of the neck
is naked, of a deep blue and fiery red tint, with pendant caruncles
similar to those of the turkey-cock. It is much inferior in size to
the ostrich, and its wings are reduced to so rudimentary a state,
consisting merely of five long bristles, without any plumes, that
they are even unable to assist it in running. It is, however, very
swift, and striking out alternately with one of its robust and powerful
legs, projects its body violently forward with a bounding motion far
surpassing the speed of the horse.
[Illustration: CASSOWARY.]
[Illustration: EMU.]
The Australian Emu (_Dromaius Novæ Hollandiæ_) is allied to the
cassowary, though differing in many external characters. Both the
helmet, and the long pens or quills observable in the wings of the
latter, are here wanting; its neck and legs are longer, its feathers,
for the most part grey and brown mixed, are not so filiform, and its
beak also is differently shaped. In size it more nearly approaches the
ostrich, rising to a height of seven feet, and from its great muscular
power is able to run so quickly as to distance the swiftest greyhound.
Incessant persecutions have driven it far away from the colonised parts
of the country; but it has still a vast range in the wilds of the
interior. It lives on fruits, eggs, and even small animals, which it
swallows entire.
[Illustration: PARROTS.]