When these birds were more numerous than they now are, they were hunted by grey-hounds for amusement, and, as they run with great rapidity (seldom being known to rise on wing), the chase was sometimes very long.
Their flesh has been compared to that of the turkey, and epicures on the Continent are stated to prefer the thigh of the bustard to most other kinds of game.
Such is the timidity of these birds that they seldom allow any person to approach within gun-shot of them. They fly slowly, and have some difficulty to rise from the ground, but, when in flight, they are able to continue their course for many miles without resting. Bustards feed on green corn and vegetables; and on worms, frogs, mice, and other animals. They form no nest, but the female lays her eggs, two in number, on the ground. The eggs are as large as those of a goose, and of pale olive-brown colour, marked with brown spots.
170. The OSTRICH (Struthio camelus, Fig. 40) is a bird of immense height, measuring from seven to nine feet from its head to the ground; and is distinguished by its extremely long neck, somewhat, conical bill, the wings not being formed for flight, and the feet having each only two toes.
It inhabits extensive plains and deserts in the torrid regions of Asia and Africa.
Ostriches are pursued by the Arabs principally on account of their feathers, which are a considerable article of traffic. This people use the fat of these birds in cookery; and they occasionally subsist upon the flesh.
The eggs of the ostrich are of large size, and, in the South of Africa, are considered a great delicacy. They are prepared for eating in various ways; but the best way is simply to bury them in hot ashes, and, through a hole made in the larger end, to stir the contents till they acquire the consistence of an omelet. Ostriches' eggs are capable of being preserved for a great length of time even at sea; and without any trouble of constantly turning them, as is requisite with hen's eggs. This is owing to the great thickness of the shells. At the Cape of Good Hope they are usually sold at the rate of about sixpence sterling each. The Egyptians suspend the shells of these eggs as ornaments, under the vaulted roofs of their houses; and they are frequently hung between lamps in the mosques of the Mahometans, and also in the Greek and Coptic churches. The shells are cut by the Hottentots into necklaces, bracelets, and ornaments for the waist. In the eggs of the ostrich are frequently found a kind of small oval-shaped stones about the size of a marrowfat pea, which are sometimes set and used for buttons. The skins of ostriches are employed by the Arabians as a substitute for leather.
But no parts of the ostrich are so valuable as the feathers of the wings and tail. These are divided into loose and silky filaments, and are most admired when plucked from the birds whilst alive. They are packed in bundles by the Arabs, who put them, large and small, good and bad, together for sale. In Europe they are used for female head-dresses; and for this purpose the shortest and lightest are most esteemed. The ostrich feathers that are imported into this country from the Cape of Good Hope are not considered so good as those which we receive from Barbary; they are of better colour, but not so perfect in the flue or feather, and are thin and irregular. There is a permanent tax of 1l. 15s. and a war tax of 11s. 8d. per pound on all ostrich feathers which are imported into England.
Two, three, or sometimes four ostriches deposit their eggs, thirty or forty in number, in the same hollow place in the sand; and they do not, as is generally supposed, leave them entirely to the heat of the sun to be hatched. These birds are sometimes reared in a domestic state.