Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/129

Rh low condition in the winter. It also varies in individual birds, and with their condition, and becomes pale during the period of sitting. During the non-breeding season the colouration, more or less faded, is nearly always confined to the scales of the tarsi; but in all cocks that "come on" during the breeding season it is seldom, if ever, so confined, the tarsi themselves, the toes, and the beak, to a greater or less extent, also becoming affected. Some cocks are then most brilliantly coloured; not only do the toes and the whole of the tarsi become a brilliant crimson, but the upper part of the leg (called by the Cape Ostrich farmers the "thigh") for half its length, nearly the whole of the head, especially the beak, ears, and around the eyes, are of the same gaudy tint. A vicious cock in full plumage is then a beautiful and imposing creature; the glittering glossy black is strikingly contrasted with the spotless white of his waving plumes, and the bright crimson of his head and legs; and as, with springy steps, he advances to battle, angrily lashing his wings across his raised body, with tail and neck erect, and flashing eyes, he is not only a beautiful, but a grand, and, to many a man, a terrifying object.

No corresponding changes take place in the hen; neither does she become vicious, except when she has chicks.

As to the alleged difference in the shell of the eggs of the northern and southern Ostrich, it may be sufficient to remark that the eggs of the southern bird vary frequently and greatly in respect of size, shape, and shell; some are quite a third larger than others; some are almost spherical, others oblong; and the shells vary from being deeply and thickly pitted to smooth and polished.

Differences in the sizes of Ostriches are equally marked; there is no uniformity. Some birds are very much larger than others; they also differ considerably in shape.

It will thus be seen that all the differences on which the arguments for classifying the Ostrich into three species are founded, are commonly present among the Ostriches of the Cape Colony—that is, of South Africa generally; for a great many of