sjanmel_ or
camel-bird of the Persians, of which everybody knows something and of
which nobody knows all.

With the general appearance of the bird, I presume that my young readers
are already acquainted, and shall therefore say little or nothing about
it.

The stumpy-footed, two-toed, long-legged, kicking creature has wings
that are apparently more useful to man than to itself. In fact, the
possession of these apparently superfluous appendages is generally the
cause of its being hunted by man and by him destroyed.

It is one of those unfortunate creatures, persecuted to gratify the
vanity of other perhaps equally unfortunate creatures, called
fashionable ladies. A full-grown ostrich is usually between seven and
eight feet in height, but individuals have occasionally been met with
measuring more than ten.

Its nest is merely a hole in the sand, about three feet in diameter, and
usually contains twenty eggs. Half this number may be seen lying
outside the nest, and elsewhere scattered over the plain. These are
supposed to be intended as food for the young when they have first
broken the shell. This supposition, however, is not founded upon the
observation of any fact to justify a belief in it.

Job (chapter 39), speaking of the ostrich, says, she "Leaveth her eggs
in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust, and forgetteth that the foot
may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. She is hardened
against her young ones as though they were not hers: her labour is in
vain without fear." This account does not altogether correspond with
modern observation.

In the heat of the day, when the eggs are under the burning sun, the
ostrich can well afford to leave them for a while and go off in quest of
food. At night, when it is cool and the eggs need protection, the bird
is ever to be found doing its duty, and the male ostrich is often seen
in charge of the young brood, and assiduously guarding them. At such
times, if molested, the old birds have been known to act in the same way
as the partridge or plover, by shamming lame, so as to mislead the
intruder.

From much more now known of the ostrich, it cannot be said to be wanting
in paternal or maternal instincts; and the idea of its being so has only
originated in the fact of their nests being so often found deserted
during the hot hours of the day.

The food of the ostrich generally consists of seeds and leaves of
various plants. Owing to the nature of