Ostrich on Her Nest.
The head of the Ostrich is naked and callous, with a short bill, much depressed and rounded at the point; its legs are half naked, muscular, and fleshy; the feet are long and rough, terminating in two toes pointing forward, one of which is shorter than the other and has no claw; the wings are very short, and formed of soft and flexible feathers; the tail taking the form of a plume.
There is but one species of the Ostrich; it is sparsely diffused over the interior of Africa, and is rarely found in Asia except perhaps in Arabia. It is the largest member of the family, generally measuring six feet in height, and occasionally attaining nine feet; its weight varies from twenty to a hundred pounds.
The Ostrich has been known from the most remote antiquity. It is spoken of in the sacred writings, for Moses forbade the Hebrews to eat of its flesh, as being “unclean food.” The Romans, however, far from sharing the views of the Jewish legislator, considered it a great culinary luxury. In the days of the Emperors they were consumed in considerable numbers; and we read that the luxurious Heliogabalus carried his magnificence so far as to cause a dish composed of the brains of 600 Ostriches to be served at a feast; this must have cost an almost incalculable sum. In former days it was a favorite dish with the tribes of Northern Africa. At the present date the Arabs content themselves with using its fat as an outward application in certain diseases, especially rheumatic affections; and they derive from it, as they say, very beneficial effects.
The natives of Africa call the Ostrich “the Camel of the desert,” just as the Latins denominated it Struthio camelus. There is, in fact, some likeness between them. This resemblance consists in the length of the neck and legs, and in the form of the toes. In some of their habits they also resemble each other; the Ostrich lies down in the same way as the Camel, by first bending the knee, then leaning forward on the fleshy part of the sternum, and letting its hinder quarters sink down last of all.
That the Ostrich is extremely voracious is certain. Although the senses of sight and hearing are so highly developed that it is said to distinguish objects six miles off, and the slightest sounds excite its ear, the senses of taste and smell are very imperfect. This is the explanation given for its readiness to swallow unedible substances. In a wild state it takes into its stomach large pebbles, to increase its digestive powers; in captivity it gorges bits of wood and metal, pieces of glass, plaster and chalk, probably with the same object.
Herbage, Insects, Molluscs, small Reptiles, and even small animals, are the principal food of the wild Ostrich; when it is in a state of domesticity even young Chickens are frequently devoured by it. It is capable of enduring hunger and thirst for many days—about the most useful faculty it could possess in the arid and burning deserts which it inhabits—but it is quite a mistake to suppose it never drinks, for it will travel immense distances in search of water when it has suffered a long deprivation, and will then drink with evident pleasure.
The muscular power of the Ostrich is truly surprising. If matured it can carry a man on its back; and is readily trained to be mounted like a Horse, and to bear a burden. The tyrant Firmius, who reigned in Egypt in the third century, was drawn about by a team of Ostriches; even now the Negroes frequently use it for riding.
When it first feels the weight of its rider, the Ostrich starts at a slow trot; it however soon gets more animated, and stretching out its wings, takes to running with such rapidity that it seems scarcely to touch the ground. To the wild animals which range the desert it offers a successful resistance by kicking, the force of which is so great that a blow in the chest is sufficient to cause death.
Man succeeds in capturing the Ostrich only by stratagem. The Arab on his swiftest courser would fail to get near if he did not by his intelligence supply the deficiency in his physical powers. “The legs of an Ostrich running at full speed,” says Dr. Livingstone, “can no more be seen than the spokes in the wheel of a vehicle drawn at a gallop.” According to the same author, the Ostrich can run about thirty miles in an hour—a speed and endurance much surpassing that of the swiftest Horse.