Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/147

Rh that the cock (and perhaps some of the hens) abandons the nest in disgust before the full period of incubation is completed. This he never does if he has only one hen and is undisturbed by other birds.

It must also be noted that chicks are attended by one cock and one hen, and that the pair will kick any birds, chicks or adults, that approach them; also that it is a common rule among Ostrich farmers to camp off special breeding birds in pairs.

Every authority that I have consulted holds that the Ostrich is polygamous, but the evidence against polygamy is very strong: a pair make the nest; the hen lays all her eggs (a full sitting) in that nest; the hatching of the eggs and the care of the chicks are shared equally by cock and hen; the cock loses his sexual vigour and ceases his attentions to the hen, soon after beginning to sit; and one hen to a nest yields the best results.

I do not, however, think it can be maintained that the monogamy of the Ostrich is proved absolutely, but I decidedly think that the arguments in its favour are much stronger than those in support of polygamy. That there is a thoroughly organized polygamy I do not believe. It may perhaps be said that the present state of the relation between the sexes is not quite organized; but if monogamy is not yet firmly established, I hold, at least, that the tendency is that way, and am certain that monogamy is the state most suitable to the propagation of the species, though, under certain conditions, polygamy may be resorted to.

Finally, it must be allowed that, while all the facts at my command point strongly to the conclusion that the Ostrich is not only often monogamous, but that monogamy is the only condition perfectly favourable to the successful hatching and rearing of young; and that all the arguments in favour of polygamy break down on examination: yet the fact remains that there are a large number of curious and exceptional circumstances connected with the nidification, sexual relations, and parental habits of Ostriches that I am not yet exactly able to account