The ostrich swallows large stones, as small birds swallow grains of sand, to aid the gizzard in the trituration of the food; and in confinement has often been known to swal low very indiscriminately whatever came in the way, pieces of iron, bricks. glass, old shoes, copper coins, etc. Its instincts do not suffice to prevent it from swallowing very unsuitable things; copper coins were fatal in oile instance, and a piece of a parasol ill another.
The ostrich is very patient of thirst, or is capable of subsisting for a long time with out water. It often supplies the want of water by eating the gourds or melons of the desert, to which even the lion is said to resort on the same account.
The speed of the ostrichovhen it first sets out, is supposed to be not less than GO m. an hour; but it does not seem to be capable of keeping up this speed for at long time. It is successfully bunted by men on horseback, who take advantage of its habit of running in a curve, instead of a straight line, so that the hunter knows how to proceed in order to meet it and get within shot. It is often killed in South Africa by men who envelop themselves in ostrich skins, and admirably imitating the manners of the ostrich, approach it near enough for their purpose, without exciting its alarm, and sometimes kill one after another with their poisoned arrows.
The strength of the ostrich is such that it can easily carry two men on its back.
The voice of the ostrich :s deep and hollow, not easily distinguished, except by a practiced ear, from the roar of the lion. It also more frequently makes a kind of cackling; and when enraged and striking violently at an adversary, hisses very loudly.
The flesh of the ostrich is not unpalatable when it is young, lint rank and tough when I old. It is generally believed to have been prohibited as unclean to the Jews (Lev. xi. 16),
although the name is translated owl in the English Bible. There are frequent references [ to it in the Old Test:uncut.
The eggs of the ostrich are much esteemed as an article of food by the rude natives of Africa, and are acceptable even to European travelers and colonists. Each egg weights about three pounds, and is thus equal to about two dozen ordinary hen's eggs. The egg is usually dressed by being set upright on a fire, and stirred about with a forked stick. inserted through a hole in the upper end. The thick and strong shell is applied to many uses. but particularly is much employed by the s. African tribes for water•vessels. The reader will probably recollect the interesting plate in Livingstone's Treads of women filling ostrich shells with water. In taking ostrich eggs froth the nest the s. African is careful not to touch any with the hand, but uses a long stick to draw them out, that the birds may not detect the smell of the intruder, in which case they would forsake the nest; whilst otherwise, they will return and lay more eggs.
The long plumes of the ostrich have been highly valued for ornathental purposes from very early times, and continue to be a considerable article of commerce. for the sake of which the ostrich is pursued in its native wilds. See OSTRICH-FARMING.
The ostrich is often to be seen in Britain in confinement, and readily becomes quite tame and familiar, although still apt to be violent towards strangers. Great numbers were exhibited in the public spectacles by some of the Roman emperors; and the brains of many ostriches were sometimes presented in a single dish, as at the table of Echo gabalus.