OCR Text |
Show WHY OSTRICHES EAT STONES. <br><br> An ostrich's digestion is aided by stones or pebbles, which the bird puts into its stomach to grind the food it has eaten. This habit is brought out by the following narrative told in Forest and Stream, of a visitor's experience, while at an ostrich farm in South Africa: <br><br> The first familiarity one of them ventures to take is to make a snap at our neck. We give him a slap and stand back. <br><br> "Oh! He's only after your breastpin," says the farmer; "I forgot to tell you to keep your jewelry out of sight." <br><br> This is easily removed, but the inquisitive bird makes a peck at the top button of my coat, and when I find at last that he does not seem to be very strong in the beak, and that this is not his weapon of offense, I let him continue the operation. <br><br> If we ask why these birds have a passion for buttons and studs, and bright things generally, including jack knives, the farmer replies that they are in the habit of eating pebbles and stones to help digestion by the trifurcation of their food. <br><br> The harder the stone the better, and it is probable they associate brightness with hardness. |