THE OSTRICH IN A WILD STATE.
The ostrich may be looked upon as the most peculiar bird of Africa. It
is found in almost all sections, and is by far the largest of all living
birds, though doubtless many extinct species were much larger. It is an
immense bird, often two feet taller than the tallest man, and frequents
the barren, sandy plains, such as are common in Africa.
The male is generally of a fine glossy black color, with long, loose,
white, plumelike feathers in the wings and tail. These are the feathers
for which the bird is hunted. They are largely used for decorating hats
and bonnets. The female bird and the young are of a brownish-gray color.
The head and the neck of the ostrich are almost bare of feathers. Upon
the body the feathers do not grow closely as they do upon other birds.
The wind can thus blow through the feathers, cooling the body, while the
covering is sufficient to protect the bird, like a shade, from the heat
of the sun.
The ostrich has a keen sense of sight and hearing, and, as it is a swift
runner, it is very hard to catch. It cannot fly, but it can use its
wings like sails in running, and has been known to run at the rate of
thirty miles an hour.
Its food is chiefly fruits, grain, leaves, tender twigs and shoots of
plants, snails, and various kinds of insects. We often hear people speak
of "the digestion of an ostrich;" it is rather astonishing what this
bird will take into its stomach to assist in grinding its food. Not only
does it swallow instinctively vast quantities of small stones, but it
has been known to swallow pieces of leather, bits of glass, iron, and
other hard substances.
The ostrich has generally been considered rather a stupid bird. Indeed,
the Arabs have a saying, "As stupid as an ostrich." This judgment of the
bird doubtless arose from the habit it has of hiding its head in the
sand or in a bush when hard pressed by its pursuers. No doubt it thinks
that, because it cannot see, it cannot be seen by, the hunters it is
trying to elude.
The ostrich is not easily caught; for, although its wings are small and
weak, yet their flapping aids very materially in the flight from its
pursuers. So rapid is this flight that the feet seem scarcely to touch
the ground, while the length between the strides is frequently from
twelve to fourteen feet. An ostrich at this rate might easily outstrip a
locomotive running at good speed.
The strength of the legs is a great help to the bird in battling with
its enemies, for it uses them as a means of defense. Many a panther or
wild dog has had reason to wish it had kept at a safer distance from
these formidable feet.
During its flight the ostrich frequently throws large stones backward
with its feet, thus making the chase a more difficult one for its
pursuers. Still, in spite of its great strength and rapid flight, the
bird must often succumb to the hunter who is well versed in ways of
making it a captive.
The ostrich makes its home in the African plains and wildernesses. Where
the lion wanders in search of its prey, where the elephant, rhinoceros,
and hippopotamus make the earth tremble under their heavy tread, where
the long-necked giraffe plucks the leaves from the top-most branches of
the acacia, where the herds of antelope bound gracefully over the
ground, a troop of ostriches may not unfrequently be found enjoying the
full liberty of the plain, as they wander, unsuspicious of danger, over
its vast expanse, where the monotony of the scenery is relieved only by
a clump of palms, a patch of candelabra-shaped trees, or a gigantic and
solitary baobab.
The scene is an interesting one, as some leisurely feed upon the sprouts
of the acacias, the hard, dry leaves of the mimosas, or the prickly,
cactuslike shrub of the desert of which the bird is extremely fond. Some
flutter their wings to allow the air to circulate through the delicate
plumage, which is looked upon as a prize by the covetous eyes of the
hunter.
No other birds ever associate with them, nor do any other birds lead a
life so isolated as theirs; so we might well consider their lives
solitary, did not the zebra and the antelope seek their company,
evidently relying on their keenness of vision, which enables them to
discern danger even on the extreme edge of the horizon.
This vigilance can avail the ostrich troop but little when the Arab
hunters encircle them with their fleetest steeds. Vainly each bird tries
to escape. It is driven from one hunter to another; the circle of riders
grows narrower and narrower, till the bird sinks to the ground from
exhaustion and resigns itself to its fate.
Before the rainy season, however, it is not necessary to capture the
ostrich through a protracted chase. When the heat is most intense, the
bird is often found lying upon the sand with outstretched wings and open
beak, suffering from the hot, sultry air, and burning sun. It is then an
easy matter for a single horseman or a swift-footed Bushman to capture
it after a short pursuit.
Just as the Esquimo of the north covers himself with the skin of the
seal, and, by imitating its movements, is enabled to mingle with an
unsuspicious group of them, so the Bushman of South Africa resorts to
similar strategy to outwit the ostrich.
He first forms a saddlelike cushion, which he covers with feathers, to
resemble the bird. He then stuffs the head and neck of an ostrich and
introduces a small rod as a support. In preparing for the chase, he
whitens his black legs with any suitable substance which he can find,
and places the saddle on his shoulders. He then takes the bottom part of
the neck in his right hand, while he holds his bow and poisoned arrows
in the left.
Behind this mask he mimics the ostrich in the smallest details; picks at
the verdure, turns his head from side to side as if to keep a sharp
lookout for danger, flutters his feathers, walks, trots, till he gets
within bowshot, shoots his arrow, and, if the flock runs in its alarm,
runs too.
Should some wary old bird suspect the trick, the Bushman must get out of
its way as the bird tries to approach him; for on no account does he
wish it to catch the scent and thus break the spell. If an ostrich
should get too near in its pursuit, the Bushman has but to run to the
windward or throw aside his saddle, to avoid a blow from the bird's
wing, powerful enough to lay him prostrate.
Although the ostrich has been called a stupid bird, yet it resorts to
many cunning artifices to protect its young. Andersson and a companion,
while traversing a sterile plain, caught sight of a male and female
ostrich, with a brood of young ones about the size of barnyard fowls.
They immediately gave chase, and the pursuit proved of no ordinary
interest.
[Illustration: OSTRICHES.]
Andersson writes of this experience: "The moment the parent birds became
aware of our intention, they set off at full speed, the female leading
the way, the young following in her wake, and the male, though at some
little distance, bringing up the rear of the family party.
"It was very touching to observe the anxiety the old birds evinced for
the safety of their progeny. Finding that we were quickly gaining upon
them, the male at once slackened his pace, and diverged somewhat from
his course; but, seeing that we were not to be diverted from our
purpose, he again increased his speed, and with wings drooping, so as
almost to touch the ground, he hovered round us, now in wide circles,
and then decreasing the circumference, till he came almost within pistol
shot, when he abruptly threw himself on the ground, and struggled
desperately to regain his legs, as it appeared, like a bird that had
been badly wounded.
"Having previously fired at him, I really thought he was disabled, and
made quickly towards him. But this was only a ruse on his part; for on
my nearer approach he slowly rose, and began to run in an opposite
direction to that of the female, who by this time was considerably ahead
with her charge. After an hour's severe chase, we secured nine of the
brood, and, though it consisted of about double that number, we found it
necessary to be contented with what we had."
The ostrich resorts to various stratagems to remove intruders from the
vicinity of its crude nest, which is merely a cavity scooped out of the
sand, usually about a yard in diameter, but only a few inches in depth.
One writer happened to ride by the place where a hen ostrich was sitting
upon her nest, when the bird sprang up and gave chase, in order to
distract his attention from the nest of either young birds or eggs, he
could not ascertain which; for every time he turned his horse towards
her, she retreated a few paces, but as soon as he rode on again she
would pursue him.
The Creator has given the ostrich a wonderful instinct for providing its
young with food. It was formerly supposed that the bird left her young
to be hatched by the heat of the sand and sun; but it has been proved
that she hatches them with the greatest care, and even reserves some of
the eggs for food for the young birds when they first leave the shell.
Thus, though a nest may hold from fifteen to twenty eggs, the mother
bird sits upon not more than ten or a dozen; the rest are pushed to one
side, in anticipation of the time when her hungry brood of little ones
will look to her for food. This is a wonderful provision, when we
consider how little the arid plains can offer for the support of the
young birds.
Nature provides for their protection in still another way; for it gives
them a covering suitable for the localities they frequent. This is
neither one of down nor feathers; it is of the nature of a prickly
stubble, and serves as a fine shield against the gravel and the coarse,
stunted vegetation of the plains. Its color, too, renders it difficult
to discern the chicks, even when crouching close at hand, so nearly do
they resemble the color of the sand and gravel.
In Senegal the heat is so very intense that the ostrich sits upon her
eggs only at night. Where the heat is less intense the eggs must be
guarded night and day. The father bird usually sits on the nest at
night, leaving the care of it to the mother bird during the day.
Every morning and evening the nest is left uncovered for a quarter of an
hour, to allow the eggs to cool. The sight of the nests at this time has
probably given rise to the erroneous idea that the ostrich leaves her
eggs to hatch in the sun.
She has more sense than to believe in the sun's hatching her eggs; she
is indeed quite aware of the fact that, if allowed to blaze down on
them, even during the short time she is off the nest, it would injure
them; and therefore on a hot morning she does not leave them without
first placing on the top of each a good pinch of sand. When she has thus
set her nest in order, she walks off, to fortify herself with a good
meal for the duties of the day.
Now comes the white-necked crow's opportunity, for which, ever since the
earliest dawn, he has been patiently watching; for an ostrich egg is to
him the daintiest of all delicacies; but, nature not having bestowed on
him a bill strong enough to break its hard shell, he is able only by
means of an ingenious device to regale on the interior. So he watches
till the parent's back is turned and she is a long distance from the
nest; then he flies up into the air and drops a stone from a great
height with so accurate an aim as to break an egg. He makes so good use
of his quarter of an hour, that he, no less than the hen ostrich, has
had an ample meal by the time the latter returns to the nest.
Though this crow is an inveterate egg stealer, he has a most respectable
appearance, with his neat suit of black and his little white tie. The
Boers have a legend to the effect that these birds are "the ravens"
which fed Elijah. They say that a little of the fat from the meat
remained on the birds' necks, in commemoration of which their
descendants have this one white spot on their otherwise black plumage.
Tortoise shells of immense size are often found on the plains of Cape
Colony, broken in much the same manner as the ostrich eggs. This crow
evidently is as fond of the inmate of the tortoise shell as he is of the
contents of an ostrich egg.
The white crow is not the only enemy of an ostrich nest. The worst foes
are the jackals. These plunder the nests, often rolling the eggs off
with their paws to some considerable distance.
The Hottentots are very fond of ostrich eggs. If they discover a nest
they will often remove one or two of the eggs from time to time. In her
endeavors to raise a brood the mother bird has been known, like the
domestic fowl, to lay from forty to fifty eggs in a season.
An ostrich egg is usually as large as two dozen hen's eggs. One might
suppose a slice of one of these eggs would make a breakfast for a person
of ordinary appetite, while a whole one would seem more than sufficient
for a person of the most voracious appetite; yet Andersson saw two
natives dispose of five of these eggs during an afternoon, together with
a large portion of flour and fat.
Dr. Livingstone did not agree with Andersson, who considered that
ostrich eggs made an excellent repast; to the great explorer they had a
rank, disagreeable flavor, which only the keen appetite of the desert
made acceptable to the palate.
The shells of ostrich eggs are highly prized, for they are used for
holding various kinds of liquids. Among the Bushmen there are scarcely
any household utensils other than the ostrich eggshells. The shells are
often covered with a light network, so that they may be slung across the
saddle. Grass and wood are employed as substitutes for corks to these
crude bottles.
In the Kalahari Desert it is no uncommon sight to see the women
resorting to some hidden supply of water, with twenty or thirty of their
water vessels in a bag or net slung over their backs. These vessels
consist of ostrich eggshells, with a hole in the end of each large
enough to admit one's finger. The process of filling them we have
already learned in the description of the Kalahari Desert.
The Bushmen never touch the eggs, nor leave marks of human feet near
them, when they find a nest. They go against the wind to the spot, and
with a long stick remove some of them occasionally, and by preventing
any suspicion keep the hen laying for months, as we do with fowls.
When the Hottentots discover a quantity of eggs, they remove their lower
garment, the legs of which they tie up like bags, to serve as
receptacles in which to carry home their bulky and queer-looking load.
One can imagine the grotesque appearance a Hottentot would present with
a pair of these inflated bags astride his shoulders, while he wends his
way homeward to the kraal.