The Ostrich.
Every one who looks at an ostrich can see that, having very long legs, he can run pretty fast if he tries. The ostrich is, in fact, swifter of foot than any other animal. He will outstrip the fleetest dog, or horse, or even the antelope.
Not only is he the fleetest of running animals, but he is the largest of birds; but though he is a bird, he cannot fly. In running, he only lifts his wings a little, flapping them slightly, but deriving no aid from them in his progress. The ostrich, therefore, is a remarkable bird, and seems to have been quite a puzzle to a great many wise heads. Pliny, the old Roman, thought it was rather a beast than a bird, and the Greeks and Asiatics esteemed it so like a quadruped in some of its qualities, that they called it a camel-bird.
When a thing is wonderful, people always strive to make it more wonderful; so they tell very large stories about ostriches eating iron and brass with a right good appetite! Upon hearing some people talk about this creature, you would fancy that a shovel and tongs, and a pair of andirons, would be but a good breakfast for it! Now this is all nonsense. Iron and brass can no more give nutriment to an ostrich than a man; it may be that an ostrich, which, it must be confessed, has a good appetite, sometimes swallows down a spike or a tenpenny-nail to aid his digestion, just as other birds eat gravel; but this is no doubt all that can be said about the matter.
The ostrich is a native of most parts of Africa, and of Arabia in Asia. It is scarce now in all countries, but in the days of ancient Rome it appears that they were abundant, for the brains of six hundred were served up at one famous dinner! It is a bird that likes the company of its own kind very well, and several are often seen together; but it has not a good opinion of mankind. It seeks places remote from the haunts of men, and seems to prefer the desert and the solitude. When pursued, it does not run straight forward, but wheels round in circles, keeping pretty near its enemy, and is thus often killed by being shot, or struck with a kind of spear. The creature is generally inoffensive, and seeks safety by flight; but
when attacked, he resorts to the ungenteel trick of kicking violently, and he often exercises his skill in this way with serious effect.
In some parts of Africa, the ostrich is tamed, and generally behaves like a quiet, well-bred bird; it is said, however, not to like strangers, and to have a spite against ill-dressed people. This is in bad taste, for the ostrich, having fine silky feathers itself, may seem to show foolish vanity and pride by picking flaws in the dress of other people.
There has been a good deal of discussion among learned authors about the manner in which the female ostrich manages her eggs—which, by the way, are large and heavy, one of them weighing as much as a small baby. It is generally agreed, however, that several ostriches lay in one nest, and that one undertakes to hatch them, but often covers them up in the sand and leaves them during the day, knowing that the heat of the sun will carry on the process of hatching as well without her as with her. I need only add that the ostrich is about as tall as the Belgian giant, it being between seven and eight feet high!