(2.) F«Vm C)^'"') occurs only in the plural number 0*^52?% ye'enim (Sept. arpov^iov, Vulg. stnithio'), in Lam. iv, 3, where the context shows that the ostrich is intended: "The daughter of my people is become cruel like the ostriches in the wilderness." This is im- portant, as showing that the above word, which is mere- ly the feminine form of this one, with the addition of bath, " daughter," clearly points to the ostrich as its cor- rect translation, even if all the old versions were not agreed upon the matter.
(3.) Ranan, "S"!, in the plural form (t3^33'l, renanim; Sept. Ttptrofievoi ; Vulg. strufhio), alone occurs in Job xxxix, 13 ; where, however, it is clear from the whole passage (13-18) that ostriches are intended by the word. The A. V. renders i-enanim bj^ " peacocks," a translation which has not found favor with commentators ; as " peacocks," for which there is a different Hebrew name (D'^'I'SPl), were probably not known to the people of Arabia or Syria before the time of Solomon. See Pea- cock. The Hebrew renanim appears to be derived from the root '3"i, randn, " to wail," or to " utter a strid- ulous sound," in allusion to this bird's nocturnal cries. Gesenius compares the Arabic zimar, "a female os- trich," from the root zamar, " to sing."
2. Description. — The head of the ostrich is small, and not composed of strong bones ; the bill, in form somewhat like that of a duck, is flat, with a nail at the apex, and broad at the gape ; the eyes, hazel-col- ored, have a clear and distinct vision of objects to a great distance, although when seen obliquely they have an opalescent appearance ; the auditory aj)paratus is large and open, notwithstanding that in the pairing season ostriches are said to be very deaf; the neck,
OSTRICH
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OSTRICH
long and slender, is, together with the head, but scant- ily clothed with whitish shining hairs, and in tlie pair- ing season becomes for a time pink or rosy red ; towards the base it assumes the general color of the plumage, which, with the quill and tail plumes, is entirely com- posed of loose downy-webbed feathers, onh' differing in size and color ; the wings, each from three to four feet long, exclusive of feathers, are entirely naked on the inner side, and are sui)plied towards the end of the pin- ion bone on each side with two sharp-pointed quills re- sembling those of a porcn])ine, and no doubt serving for defence ; the thighs, nearlj- bare of plumage, and of a deep flesh-color, are as full and muscular as those of a strong man, and the tarsi or legs, of corresponding length with the proportions of the neck, are covered with broad horny scales, and terminate in two toes; the inner, be- ing the longest, is armed with a broad, strong claw ; and that on the outside, only half the length of the other, is without any. The great feathers, so much prized in commerce, are twenty in each wing, those of the tail being nearly alwaj's useless, broken, and worn. The cloven feet, long neck, and vaulted back of these birds are in themselves quite sufficient to suggest to the imagination an animal of the camel kind : but these external appearances are not the only points of resem- blance ; the stomach is so formed as to appear possessed of a third ventricle, and there are other structural par- ticulars, such as a sternum not keel-shaped, as in birds, but in the form of a round buckler, to protect the chest, which, with the fact that they are without the muscular conformation to render them capable of Hying, altogeth- er approximate these birds to quadrupeds, and particu- larlv to the order of Euminaiitia.
Ostrich {Struthio Camelns).
3. Unlits. — Ostriches are gregarious — from families consisting of a male with one or several female birds, and perhaps a brood or two of young, up to troops of near a hundred. They keep aloof from the presence of water in the wild and arid desert, mixing without hesi- tation among herds of gnu, wild asses, quaggas, and other striped Kquidic, and the larger species of An- tilopidie. From the nature of their food, which con- sists of seeds and vegetables, although seldom or never in want of drink, it is evident that they must often ap- proach more productive regions, which," by means of the great rapidity of motion they possess, is easily accom- plislied; and they are consequeiUly known to be very destructive to cultivated fields. As the organ of taste is very obtuse in these birds, they swallow with little or no discrimination all kinds of substances, and among others stones; it is also probable that, like poultry, thcv devour lizards, snakes, and the young of birds that fall in their way. One has even been known to snap a traveller's sketch-book from his hand, attracted to it by the sight of the white paper. It is not yet tinally de-
cided whether the two species are polygamous, though concurrent testimony seems to leave no doubt of the fact : there is, however, no uncertainty respecting the nest, which is merely a circular basin scraped out of the soil, with a slight elevation at the border, and suf- ficiently large to contain a great number of eggs ; for from twelve to about sixty have been found in them, ex- clusive of a certain number always observed to be out- lying, or placed be3'ond the raised border of the nest, and amounting apparently to nearly one third of the whole. These are supposed to feed the young brood when first hatched, either in their fresh state, or in a corrupted form, when the substance in them has pro- duced worms. These eggs are of different periods of lay- ing, like those within, and the birds hatched form only a part of the contents of a nest, until the breeding sea- son closes. The eggs are of different sizes, some attain- ing to seven inches in their longer diameter, and others less, having a dirty white shell, finely speckled with rust color ; their weight borders on three pounds. Within the tropics they are kept sufficiently warm in the day-time not to require incubation, but beyond one or more females sit constantly, and the male bird takes that duty himself after the sun has set. It is then that the short roar ma\' be heard during darkness; and at other times different sounds are uttered, likened to the cooing of pigeons, the cry of a hoarse child, and the hissing of a goose — no doubt expressive of different emotions; but that the roar is expressive of the feeling of anger may be inferred from the assertion that jackals and foxes (Canis lUer/aloiis Caa?)ia?) have been found close to the nests of these birds, kicked to death. This fact is the more credible, as the last-mentioned animal is a dexterous purloiner of their eggs; and it may be here added, in proof of the organ of smelling not being quite so obtuse in the ostrich as is asserted, that Caffres and Hottentots, when thej' daily rob a nest for their own convenience, always withdraw the eggs by means of a stick, in order to prevent the female finding out the larceny by means of the scent which human hands would leave behind; for then they wUl not continue to lay, but forsake the abode altogether. This circum- stance may account for the small number of eggs often found in their nests. Tristram states (Ibis, ii, 74) : " Two Arabs began to dig with their hands, and pres- ently brought up four fine fresh eggs from the depth of about a foot under the warm sand."