OCR Text |
Show mANKft OF THE OSTMCH. lh Tall, Tafaintr Mint fa eoaaa Michty tjaaar Thlnf at Tletafc The oetrleh la not n bird lhAt can M easily brourht op In the way that It thould go. It Ium no powrri of die ctlmlnatlon. "IJeeoue(lol balli de prltcd her of wMom, nMlhcr had he Iinpnrted to her undenlatidlng at run the description of the oatrich In tho Iwok of Jtu. It eetinot dlactim Innte Utwe1!! a lre fence and Ihf open cuip, between friend and foe, or lictfcfen what I htpful and what I liurtfttl to tbo rilireetlon It wa ow I lift to it want of understanding In thli hut re'fwct, and to an r want ot dirimlnalIoiiuntheirtof tho Ilrlt Mi public, tlmt It lute Ueu found iirt-pcrtIWe iirt-pcrtIWe to kp Mlriehee allteluthl loologlenl gnrdHi In Iondon. A public aretittomed to eltp it (ten tm Into automatic inarhlnea could nrl retrain from tho lenptatton offered by the omnlTeroua tlmiot of an ottrlcli, and niled them up with polaonou eop-r, eop-r, ao If they wrro m nlatiy mlaalonnry lioie. In Ita African hfe, however the chief danger thnt be U It b not the n-cklcMneu u( IU p;h. tile, lnt Its reck lei dJaretrard of Ita own UmM. It will take fright at a thadow and hurl It)! blindly Into tho nrant-t fence, from which it llt be rafricntrd wlUi a Irokeii leg cr fight aavngoly with a bmlhrr oatrleli and break Ita leg or dnnre, waltilngwllhawHt and graceful reWlou, affording a moht tullfu1 light to the opvctaior And thegrvatett aatlifactton tu hlmwlf, tinlll gldJine come upon It and bring It to tho ground ngaln with a broken teg It U true that Ita dangerously powerful leg Are alaoti tj brittle, but It mutt bo cnnfcMfd tluA It doea not uvo thttn WflJ Of tho danger that tho owner eome-tlmea eome-tlmea mm from thow pwcr(ul limb, a writer tell aome very amutlng tt rico, A iturdy newcomer, torn ill feet In height, laughed at the wornlmra that were given hu when heeet out for a walk And dIMalnfully refuaed tho protection of a tackyA thorny brunch, the deitemua tuo of which will keep thoottrlch at bay-acrrlng that ho "wo not afraid of a dicky bird tH Ilo wa mlnaedand dUcoverrd porno hour aflerwanl by a ecnrrli (Hirty mot tin comfortably perched on the top of an IrvnatOTto liowldrr and ilowly grilling under tho African tun, wbUV tho "dicky IJrdM dU Mntry up and down, watch lug him with hb vll eye. Another gentleman had a theory that any creature, however iu?ngc,cutd bo fcubdQed--'ituelled," oa ho Mil by tho human eye. One Uny ho tried to quell ono of his own oatrlrhea, with the rrult that he was prewidly found In a vtrj pitiable pretlicnmriit, lying Hat on tho ground, whllo thu mbjct of hit experiment Jumped up end down on Mm, occasionally varying tho treat inent by alttlng upon him. DoubllcM It w a aaL'r to IU down than to ttand up to b kicked t but to bo ant upou oa If one wore an egg muU liavo Imcii In-deed In-deed humiliating Curious too, It the account that tho author give of tho ramj or httlo klngflonn tJiat tho oatrlchea mark out for thmnaelrf , with InvUlblo Lut never lo bo encrwwrhod upon boundarlca, Inldo that CAmp It will lar noln- tnulon, but outaldo of It, In the domain do-main of lti neighbor, It U profoundly In dlfTennt totho stranger' wnndLrlng. Nor la It taio f or tho fanmr to pro imiio upou hla foriuvr acquaintance with any bird, for the oitilch hunot wits enough to dlttlnguUh on old friend from n now Intruder, nor aufllclcnt rtt i poet for hla owner to except him from his tuipHou hoatllltlea, though It would npjKMr tliat, as n rule, ho will manlfcat n stronger atortlou to tho KnlJlr or Hottentot than to a whlto man. Great DU Ida. |