The Arabs, well acquainted with these facts, follow them for a day or two at a distance, without pressing too closely, yet sufficiently near to prevent them taking food during the time. When they have thus starved and wearied the birds, they pursue them at full speed, taking advantage of the fact which observation has taught them, that the Ostrich never runs in a straight line, but describes a curve of greater or less extent. Availing themselves of this habit, the horsemen follow the chord of this arc, and repeating the stratagem several times, they gradually get within reach, when, making a final dash, they rush impetuously on the harassed birds, and beat them down with their clubs, avoiding as much as possible shedding their blood, as this depreciates the value of the feathers, which are the chief inducement for their chase.
Some tribes attain their object by a rather singular artifice. The hunter covers himself with an Ostrich's skin, passing his arm up the neck of the bird so as to render the movements more natural. By the aid of this disguise, if skilfully managed, Ostriches can be approached sufficiently near to kill them.
The Arabs also hunt the Ostrich with dogs, which pursue it until it is completely worn out. In the breeding season, having sought and found out where the Ostriches lay their eggs, another artifice is to dig a hole within gunshot of the spot, in which a man, armed with a gun, can hide himself. The concealed enemy easily kills the male and female birds in turn as they sit on their nest. Lastly, to lie in wait for them close by water, and shoot them when they come to quench their thirst, is often successful.
The Ostrich, which is an eminently sociable bird, may sometimes be seen in the desert in flocks of two or three hundred, mixed up with droves of Zebras, Quaggas, &c. They pair about the end of autumn.
The nest of the Ostrich is more than three feet in diameter; it is only a hole dug in the sand, and surrounded by a kind of rampart composed of the débris; a trench is scratched round it outside to drain off the water. Each hen bird lays from fifteen to twenty eggs, according to circumstances. The eggs weigh from two to three pounds, and are each of them equal in contents to about twenty-five Hen's eggs. They are of a tolerable flavour, and are often a very seasonable help to travellers, one of them being more than sufficient for the breakfast of two or three persons.
Fig. 153.—The Ostrich (Struthio camelus, Linn.).
Incubation usually takes six weeks, and is shared by both male and female birds: several of the latter often lay in the same nest, and live together on the best terms, under the control of one male. Levaillant remarked four females taking turns in sitting on thirty-eight eggs laid in the same nest: they sat during the night only, the burning heat of the sun during the day being sufficient to maintain the necessary degree of warmth. He also observed that a certain number of the eggs were not sat upon, but were put aside to serve as nourishment for the young ones after they were hatched.
It is a strange circumstance that the cry of the Ostrich so much resembles that of the Lion when in search of his prey, that they are often confused. Dr. Livingstone says that with all his experience he has been frequently deceived, and that only the quick ear of a native can detect the difference.
It was long a subject of reproach to the Ostrich that she was wanting in affection for her progeny. She was looked upon as the most striking example of the hard-hearted mother. Thus, the Hebrews accepted the Ostrich as the symbol of insensibility, because she left her eggs upon the sand, without troubling herself, as Job says, about the dangers to which they might be exposed. Jeremiah, too, laments over her that she is devoid of family affection. All these accusations are quite unfounded: as we have already seen, the Ostrich does not abandon her eggs, neither does she desert her young, although they are well covered at their birth with a thick, warm down, and can from the first run about and provide for their own wants. On the contrary, she keeps them near her until they are almost full grown, and defends them against every enemy. Mr. Cumming came suddenly one day on a dozen young Ostriches no larger than full-grown Grouse. "The mother," he says, "tried all she could to deceive us, just like a Wild Duck; first she ran away, extending her wings; then she threw herself on the ground as if she was wounded; whilst the male bird cunningly enough conducted the young ones in an opposite direction."