Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/136

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Greater misconception seems to prevail with regard to the nidification, sexual relations, and parental habits of the Ostrich than upon any other really important points connected with it.

The best comment upon the various authorities will perhaps be a simple statement of what I know to be the facts.

As the breeding season approaches, a cock and hen will pair, and, having selected a site congenial to their inclinations, proceed to make a nest. I believe that in all cases, in the first instance, one cock and one hen, having paired, select the site and make the nest.

In a camp, no matter how large, where there are many birds and many nests, choice of position is restricted. As they like to have their nests far apart, it is especially difficult for a pair to select a spot which shall escape the observation of other birds. This probably accounts for the fact that many sites are unwisely chosen. Generally a stony or sandy rise, however slight, is selected, often beside and partly sheltered by a small bush. The sites being selected, each cock is supreme over all other cocks at his nest and in its immediate neighbourhood.

The nest is simply a hollow depression, more or less deep according to the nature of the soil. It is made by the pair together. The cock goes down on to his breast, scraping or kicking the sand out backwards with his feet, cutting the earth with his long and powerful nails. The hen stands by, often fluttering and clicking her wings, and helps by picking up the sand with her beak, and dropping it irregularly near the edge of the growing depression.

When satisfied with their work (and they are easily satisfied, often too easily) the hen begins to lay an egg in the nest, every other day. During the laying period the nest is often unattended, and is not slept on at night. A nest in which only one hen is laying contains on the average about fifteen eggs; but she often begins to sit before she has laid her full complement. Sometimes she will lay four or five after beginning to sit, though not often so many; sometimes only one or two; while sometimes