Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/740

 726 OSTRICH FERN the back ; the head is covered with feathers, and the long plumage of the wings and rump is used only for making feather brushes. It is a shy, solitary, and very fleet bird, yet easily captured on horseback by the lasso, or by trip- ping it up ; it runs generally against the wind ; it can cross rivers, swimming with the body very deep. The food consists of roots, grasses, and sometimes mollusks and fish. The nest is a shallow excavation, in which several females deposit each from 14 to 20 eggs; many eggs are laid scattered over the plain, which the male rolls together with his bill, hatching the young and bravely defending them ; it is clear- ly polygamous. OSTRICH FERN (atrutJiiopteris a genus of ferns, so called on account of the plume-like appearance of the fertile fronds. There is but one species in this country, S. Germanica, which is also a native of continental Europe, and there is probably one other in Japan. Ours Ostrich Fern (Struthiopteris Germanics). is most frequent in northern localities and in alluvial soil. The sterile fronds, sometimes 5 ft. long, are pinnate with the very numerous pinnae pinnatifid ; they grow in a circular tuft from a thick rootstock, and form a vase-like cluster of great beauty; within this are the fertile fronds, much shorter than the sterile, and having the margin of their pinns9 rolled back to cover the fructification, they present a very different appearance from the others. This fern is readily recognized by the fertile fronds growing within a circle of sterile ones, and by its very symmetrical form ; it does not grow quite so high as some of the flowering ferns (Osmunda). The European catalogues give S. Penmylvanica, but it is only this spe- cies under another name. OSTROGOTHS. See GOTHS. OSTROLMKA, a town of Russian Poland, in the government of Lomza, on the Narew, here crossed by a wooden bridge, 60 m. 1ST. N. E. of OSWEGO Warsaw; pop. in 1867, 3,466. On Feb. 16, 1807, the French general Savary defeated here the Russians under Essen; and on May 26, 1831, the Russians under Diebitsch, in a pro- tracted and bloody combat, were victorious over the Poles commanded by Skrzynecki. OSUNA, or Ossnna, Pedro Tellez y Giron, duke of, viceroy of Naples, born in Valladolid in 1579, died in 1624. He spent his childhood with his grandfather, who was viceroy in Naples, and subsequently attended the univer- sity of Salamanca. His satirical disposition drove him from the court of Philip II. After the accession of Philip III. (1598) he married a daughter of the duke of Alcala and assumed the title of duke of Osuna. He was soon again expelled from the court, and was allowed to return only in 1607 through the influence of the duke of Lerma, and after having served with distinction in the army in Flanders. He now gained considerable influence, and became in 1611 viceroy of Sicily, and in 1616 of Naples. He opposed the claims of Venice to control the trade of the Mediterranean, and incurred the hostility of the clergy by various measures, especially by resisting the establishment of the inquisition in Naples. Being suspected of aiming to make himself absolute ruler in S. Italy with the aid of foreign powers, he was recalled in 1620, and immediately after the accession of Philip IV. put on his trial. Though not convicted, he was imprisoned in the castle of Almedas, and was said to have died by poison supplied by his wife. His son became viceroy of Sicily, and the dukes of Osuna still possess great wealth. OSWALD, Saint, king of Northumbria, born about 605, died Aug. 5, 642. He was a son of King Ethelfrid, lived for several years in ex- ile, and after his return to England vanquished the British warrior Ceadwalla and recovered the kingdom, in 634. He married Cyneburg, daughter of the West Saxon king Cynegil, on condition of his embracing Christianity. He and his wife were the .earliest promoters of the Christian religion among the Anglo-Saxons. After a miraculous recovery from a dangerous illness, they took sacred vows of chastity. He fell in battle against Penda, the heathen king of Mercia, and was canonized by the church of Rome. The legends relating to Oswald be- came very popular, especially in Germany, and gave rise to several works, including Die Os- waldlegende und ihre BezieJiung zur deutschen Myihologie^ by Zingerle (Stuttgart, 1856). OSWEGO, a N. W. county of New York, bounded N. W. by Lake Ontario, intersected by Oswego river, and drained by a number of streams falling into the lake ; area, 1,038 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 77,941. It has a level or undulating surface, and the soil, though gen- erally fertile, varies greatly in different parts. The Oswego and Syracuse, the Watertown and Rome, the New York and Oswego Midland, the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg, and the Southern Central railroads traverse it.