The World and Its People Part 44

The alarm note, "tinc-tinc-tinc," of another variety of the same family has so clear a metallic ring that the bird is called "hammering iron."

It has a sharp spur on its shoulder, much like that on the leg of a rooster, but scarcely half an inch in length.

CHAPTER LXII.

THE OSTRICH IN A WILD STATE.

The ostrich may be looked upon as the most peculiar bird of Africa. It is found in almost all sections, and is by far the largest of all living birds, though doubtless many extinct species were much larger. It is an immense bird, often two feet taller than the tallest man, and frequents the barren, sandy plains, such as are common in Africa.

The male is generally of a fine glossy black color, with long, loose, white, plumelike feathers in the wings and tail. These are the feathers for which the bird is hunted. They are largely used for decorating hats and bonnets. The female bird and the young are of a brownish-gray color.

The head and the neck of the ostrich are almost bare of feathers. Upon the body the feathers do not grow closely as they do upon other birds.

The wind can thus blow through the feathers, cooling the body, while the covering is sufficient to protect the bird, like a shade, from the heat of the sun.

The ostrich has a keen sense of sight and hearing, and, as it is a swift runner, it is very hard to catch. It cannot fly, but it can use its wings like sails in running, and has been known to run at the rate of thirty miles an hour.

Its food is chiefly fruits, grain, leaves, tender twigs and shoots of plants, snails, and various kinds of insects. We often hear people speak of "the digestion of an ostrich;" it is rather astonishing what this bird will take into its stomach to a.s.sist in grinding its food. Not only does it swallow instinctively vast quant.i.ties of small stones, but it has been known to swallow pieces of leather, bits of gla.s.s, iron, and other hard substances.

The ostrich has generally been considered rather a stupid bird. Indeed, the Arabs have a saying, "As stupid as an ostrich." This judgment of the bird doubtless arose from the habit it has of hiding its head in the sand or in a bush when hard pressed by its pursuers. No doubt it thinks that, because it cannot see, it cannot be seen by, the hunters it is trying to elude.

The ostrich is not easily caught; for, although its wings are small and weak, yet their flapping aids very materially in the flight from its pursuers. So rapid is this flight that the feet seem scarcely to touch the ground, while the length between the strides is frequently from twelve to fourteen feet. An ostrich at this rate might easily outstrip a locomotive running at good speed.

The strength of the legs is a great help to the bird in battling with its enemies, for it uses them as a means of defense. Many a panther or wild dog has had reason to wish it had kept at a safer distance from these formidable feet.

During its flight the ostrich frequently throws large stones backward with its feet, thus making the chase a more difficult one for its pursuers. Still, in spite of its great strength and rapid flight, the bird must often succ.u.mb to the hunter who is well versed in ways of making it a captive.

The ostrich makes its home in the African plains and wildernesses. Where the lion wanders in search of its prey, where the elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus make the earth tremble under their heavy tread, where the long-necked giraffe plucks the leaves from the top-most branches of the acacia, where the herds of antelope bound gracefully over the ground, a troop of ostriches may not unfrequently be found enjoying the full liberty of the plain, as they wander, unsuspicious of danger, over its vast expanse, where the monotony of the scenery is relieved only by a clump of palms, a patch of candelabra-shaped trees, or a gigantic and solitary baobab.

The scene is an interesting one, as some leisurely feed upon the sprouts of the acacias, the hard, dry leaves of the mimosas, or the p.r.i.c.kly, cactuslike shrub of the desert of which the bird is extremely fond. Some flutter their wings to allow the air to circulate through the delicate plumage, which is looked upon as a prize by the covetous eyes of the hunter.

No other birds ever a.s.sociate with them, nor do any other birds lead a life so isolated as theirs; so we might well consider their lives solitary, did not the zebra and the antelope seek their company, evidently relying on their keenness of vision, which enables them to discern danger even on the extreme edge of the horizon.

This vigilance can avail the ostrich troop but little when the Arab hunters encircle them with their fleetest steeds. Vainly each bird tries to escape. It is driven from one hunter to another; the circle of riders grows narrower and narrower, till the bird sinks to the ground from exhaustion and resigns itself to its fate.

Before the rainy season, however, it is not necessary to capture the ostrich through a protracted chase. When the heat is most intense, the bird is often found lying upon the sand with outstretched wings and open beak, suffering from the hot, sultry air, and burning sun. It is then an easy matter for a single horseman or a swift-footed Bushman to capture it after a short pursuit.

Just as the Esquimo of the north covers himself with the skin of the seal, and, by imitating its movements, is enabled to mingle with an unsuspicious group of them, so the Bushman of South Africa resorts to similar strategy to outwit the ostrich.

He first forms a saddlelike cushion, which he covers with feathers, to resemble the bird. He then stuffs the head and neck of an ostrich and introduces a small rod as a support. In preparing for the chase, he whitens his black legs with any suitable substance which he can find, and places the saddle on his shoulders. He then takes the bottom part of the neck in his right hand, while he holds his bow and poisoned arrows in the left.

Behind this mask he mimics the ostrich in the smallest details; picks at the verdure, turns his head from side to side as if to keep a sharp lookout for danger, flutters his feathers, walks, trots, till he gets within bowshot, shoots his arrow, and, if the flock runs in its alarm, runs too.

Should some wary old bird suspect the trick, the Bushman must get out of its way as the bird tries to approach him; for on no account does he wish it to catch the scent and thus break the spell. If an ostrich should get too near in its pursuit, the Bushman has but to run to the windward or throw aside his saddle, to avoid a blow from the bird's wing, powerful enough to lay him prostrate.

Although the ostrich has been called a stupid bird, yet it resorts to many cunning artifices to protect its young. Andersson and a companion, while traversing a sterile plain, caught sight of a male and female ostrich, with a brood of young ones about the size of barnyard fowls.

They immediately gave chase, and the pursuit proved of no ordinary interest.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OSTRICHES.]

Andersson writes of this experience: "The moment the parent birds became aware of our intention, they set off at full speed, the female leading the way, the young following in her wake, and the male, though at some little distance, bringing up the rear of the family party.

"It was very touching to observe the anxiety the old birds evinced for the safety of their progeny. Finding that we were quickly gaining upon them, the male at once slackened his pace, and diverged somewhat from his course; but, seeing that we were not to be diverted from our purpose, he again increased his speed, and with wings drooping, so as almost to touch the ground, he hovered round us, now in wide circles, and then decreasing the circ.u.mference, till he came almost within pistol shot, when he abruptly threw himself on the ground, and struggled desperately to regain his legs, as it appeared, like a bird that had been badly wounded.

"Having previously fired at him, I really thought he was disabled, and made quickly towards him. But this was only a ruse on his part; for on my nearer approach he slowly rose, and began to run in an opposite direction to that of the female, who by this time was considerably ahead with her charge. After an hour's severe chase, we secured nine of the brood, and, though it consisted of about double that number, we found it necessary to be contented with what we had."

The ostrich resorts to various stratagems to remove intruders from the vicinity of its crude nest, which is merely a cavity scooped out of the sand, usually about a yard in diameter, but only a few inches in depth.

One writer happened to ride by the place where a hen ostrich was sitting upon her nest, when the bird sprang up and gave chase, in order to distract his attention from the nest of either young birds or eggs, he could not ascertain which; for every time he turned his horse towards her, she retreated a few paces, but as soon as he rode on again she would pursue him.

The Creator has given the ostrich a wonderful instinct for providing its young with food. It was formerly supposed that the bird left her young to be hatched by the heat of the sand and sun; but it has been proved that she hatches them with the greatest care, and even reserves some of the eggs for food for the young birds when they first leave the sh.e.l.l.

Thus, though a nest may hold from fifteen to twenty eggs, the mother bird sits upon not more than ten or a dozen; the rest are pushed to one side, in antic.i.p.ation of the time when her hungry brood of little ones will look to her for food. This is a wonderful provision, when we consider how little the arid plains can offer for the support of the young birds.

Nature provides for their protection in still another way; for it gives them a covering suitable for the localities they frequent. This is neither one of down nor feathers; it is of the nature of a p.r.i.c.kly stubble, and serves as a fine shield against the gravel and the coa.r.s.e, stunted vegetation of the plains. Its color, too, renders it difficult to discern the chicks, even when crouching close at hand, so nearly do they resemble the color of the sand and gravel.

In Senegal the heat is so very intense that the ostrich sits upon her eggs only at night. Where the heat is less intense the eggs must be guarded night and day. The father bird usually sits on the nest at night, leaving the care of it to the mother bird during the day.

Every morning and evening the nest is left uncovered for a quarter of an hour, to allow the eggs to cool. The sight of the nests at this time has probably given rise to the erroneous idea that the ostrich leaves her eggs to hatch in the sun.

She has more sense than to believe in the sun's hatching her eggs; she is indeed quite aware of the fact that, if allowed to blaze down on them, even during the short time she is off the nest, it would injure them; and therefore on a hot morning she does not leave them without first placing on the top of each a good pinch of sand. When she has thus set her nest in order, she walks off, to fortify herself with a good meal for the duties of the day.

Now comes the white-necked crow's opportunity, for which, ever since the earliest dawn, he has been patiently watching; for an ostrich egg is to him the daintiest of all delicacies; but, nature not having bestowed on him a bill strong enough to break its hard sh.e.l.l, he is able only by means of an ingenious device to regale on the interior. So he watches till the parent's back is turned and she is a long distance from the nest; then he flies up into the air and drops a stone from a great height with so accurate an aim as to break an egg. He makes so good use of his quarter of an hour, that he, no less than the hen ostrich, has had an ample meal by the time the latter returns to the nest.

Though this crow is an inveterate egg stealer, he has a most respectable appearance, with his neat suit of black and his little white tie. The Boers have a legend to the effect that these birds are "the ravens"

which fed Elijah. They say that a little of the fat from the meat remained on the birds' necks, in commemoration of which their descendants have this one white spot on their otherwise black plumage.

Tortoise sh.e.l.ls of immense size are often found on the plains of Cape Colony, broken in much the same manner as the ostrich eggs. This crow evidently is as fond of the inmate of the tortoise sh.e.l.l as he is of the contents of an ostrich egg.

The white crow is not the only enemy of an ostrich nest. The worst foes are the jackals. These plunder the nests, often rolling the eggs off with their paws to some considerable distance.

The Hottentots are very fond of ostrich eggs. If they discover a nest they will often remove one or two of the eggs from time to time. In her endeavors to raise a brood the mother bird has been known, like the domestic fowl, to lay from forty to fifty eggs in a season.

An ostrich egg is usually as large as two dozen hen's eggs. One might suppose a slice of one of these eggs would make a breakfast for a person of ordinary appet.i.te, while a whole one would seem more than sufficient for a person of the most voracious appet.i.te; yet Andersson saw two natives dispose of five of these eggs during an afternoon, together with a large portion of flour and fat.

Dr. Livingstone did not agree with Andersson, who considered that ostrich eggs made an excellent repast; to the great explorer they had a rank, disagreeable flavor, which only the keen appet.i.te of the desert made acceptable to the palate.

The sh.e.l.ls of ostrich eggs are highly prized, for they are used for holding various kinds of liquids. Among the Bushmen there are scarcely any household utensils other than the ostrich eggsh.e.l.ls. The sh.e.l.ls are often covered with a light network, so that they may be slung across the saddle. Gra.s.s and wood are employed as subst.i.tutes for corks to these crude bottles.

In the Kalahari Desert it is no uncommon sight to see the women resorting to some hidden supply of water, with twenty or thirty of their water vessels in a bag or net slung over their backs. These vessels consist of ostrich eggsh.e.l.ls, with a hole in the end of each large enough to admit one's finger. The process of filling them we have already learned in the description of the Kalahari Desert.

The Bushmen never touch the eggs, nor leave marks of human feet near them, when they find a nest. They go against the wind to the spot, and with a long stick remove some of them occasionally, and by preventing any suspicion keep the hen laying for months, as we do with fowls.

When the Hottentots discover a quant.i.ty of eggs, they remove their lower garment, the legs of which they tie up like bags, to serve as receptacles in which to carry home their bulky and queer-looking load.

One can imagine the grotesque appearance a Hottentot would present with a pair of these inflated bags astride his shoulders, while he wends his way homeward to the kraal.