Vol.t023 XL] J SHEA]•,Struthious . 633

Feb. 15, 1877. My. correspondentsare Dr. P. L. Hatch, Minneapolis, Mr. H. B. Bailey, Newton, Mass., William Brewster, Cambridge, Mass., Dr. J. C. Merrill, Fort Brown,Texas, who welcomes me to hissection, and last but not least Dr. Elliott C0uesof the Smithsonian. Receiveda letter through Mr. Bailey from Mr. J. A. Allen of Cambridge. Sent Dr: Couesa fine Pelican and he'was pleasedwith it and gave it to the Smithsonian,also sent him a juv. rabbit which he decidesto be the young of northern Jack. He sent it to Prof. Alien who is making a study of Rabbits. Feb. 19, 1877. Receiveda letterfrom SpencerF. Bairdof SmithsonianInst. thanking Dr. C0uesand me for the Pelican skin I sent the latter, and sayinghe had sent me a check . Feb. 21, 1877. Havebeen ready and waiting for two days for Mr. Webster,expect him every train. Was today studying Audubon about the Mammals and' Birds of Texas and have hopes of getting great quantities of valuable skins. - Every thing arranged at home, debts and accountsall setfled up and every thing put away in goodshape. ß112 VF. Adams St., Chicago/Ill.

SOMEOBSERVATIONS ON THE STRUTHIOUSBIRDS.

BY W. HENRY SHEAK.

For sevenmonths in 1918, from the first of April to the end of October, I had charge of the Ostrich houseat the Philadelphia Zo51ogicalGarden. This paper is based almost exclusivelyon notes made at that time. When I took charge there were in the house three specimens of the South A•rican Ostrich (Struthioaustralis), two malesand one female; two Somali Ostriches (S. molybdophanes),a male and a female;two Rheas (Rheaamericana), both males;one male AustralianCassuary (Casuarius australis); two Papuan Cassuaries (C..papuanus),a male and a female; and two (Dromceus novce-hollandice),both males. During the seven months I was there I had no death and not a caseof serioussickness among the ratitc birds. Toward the end of the summer, however, we received from an Ostrichfarm in Californiathree specimenso• the SomaliOstrich, 634 Si,.d. Auk a male and two females. Thesewere young birds, but almost,if not altogether, fully grown. The birds were delayed in their long trip acrossthe contlnen%shamefully neglected in the matter of food and water, and when they reachedthe Garden were in a dying condition. The male was so weak he could not hold up his head. Of all pitiable sights,an Ostrich with the strength all goneout of his neck, this long memberas llmp and resistlessas a carpetrag, permitting the headto fall and lle helplesson the ground,is the most pitiable. The male was too far goneto take any nourishmentand died within three hours after h;s arrival. The two femalesafter beingliberated from the shippingcrate and stretchingtheir crampedmuscles for a quarter of an hour, began peckingat the mashof crackedcorn and branwhich I had prepared for them. Before night they were eating ravenously. The Ostrichfarm shippedus a secondmale which arrived about a month later. He reached us in a condition similar to the first. SuperintendentRobert Carson, Assistant SuperintendentC. Emerson Brown, Head-keeper Manly, and the writer spent a Septembermorning trying to induce the new arrival to eat, and with little success. Not one of us had much hope of savinghim. But after a few hourshe did take a little food, in a day or two was eating readily, and by the end of Octoberhe and the two females received earlier were in good condition and well on the way to complete recovery. Thesenew birds were not placedin the OstrichHouse, but in a new paddockprepared especially for them south of the new' House. The paddock was provided with a shelter house, but with no artificial heat. Here these birds remained all winter and thrived. Oneof the femalesdied subsequently, but whenI last visitedthe Garden,late in July of the presentyear, the otherfemale and the male were still living and in the best of health. This specieshas been found most satisfactoryon the Ostrich farms of America,and is kept almostto the total exclusionof S. camelus and S. australis. The Ostrich houseis providedwith a boiler for steam heat, but it is only in extremeweather that it is used. The winter of 1917-18 in the region of Philadelphiawas a record-breakerfor frequent and heavy snowsand low temperatures,but every day Vol. the struthiousbirds were given the freedomof the outdoor pad- docks,for at leastthe warmerpart of the day, exceptingon a few occasionswhen the groundwas a glareof ice and there wasdanger of the birds falling and breaking their legs. This applied to Ostriches,Rheas, Emus, and Cassowariesalike. One of my most striking and interestingobservations on the ratire birds was that they all love rain. On the occasionof a shower,every bird, instead of seekingthe shelter of the house, would dash out the door and dance about in the rain. The harder the downpourthe more they seemedto enjoy it. After the first transport of pleasure,they would settle down to the regular businessof pickingedible tidbits or pebblesfrom the groundof the paddocks. I neverknew them to gounder a roof to get out of the wet. This wouldnot havebeen surprising in the , as they affectdeep woods where rains are frequent and heavy, but it was certainly unexpectedin the African Ostricheswhich live on desertsand plains where rain is practicallyunknown. Another surprisingfact about these great birds is the small amount of food upon which they can not only subsist,but thrive. The principal caution Head-keeperManly gave me when I went to the OstrichHouse, was this: "If you seethe needfor it, decrease the feed, but neverincrease it." The bill of fare for the Ostriches the year around,was two quarts of alfalfa, one quart of cracked corn,and one quart of bran to each bird in the morningas soon as the cageswere cleaned,and again in the eveningjust before closingtime. In additionto this, I fed eachbird in the evening one quart of choppedcarrots, beets, and bread,equal parts. To the Emus, Cassowariesand Rheas I fed, morningand evening alike, to each bird, oneslice of bread, three medium-sizedbananas, one-halfpint of boiled sweetpotatoes, one apple, a little boiled rice rolled in corn meal, and a little lettuce. When we consider the great size and bulk of body of these birds, this is certainly a smallration. But this is not all. When- ever my birdsbegan to showany decidedsigns of being "off their feed," by leavinga part of their ration in the feed boxes,I would eliminate the eveningmeal altogetheruntil they would clean up what I gave them in the morning. 636 s•, StruthiousBirds. [•cU•'

Aswas to beexpected, these great birds have their ownindividu~ alities• their own idiosyncrasies,their own likes and dislikes,' very much as human beings. For instance,.I had one that wouldnot eat bananas(and I couldnot gethim hungryenough .to eat them), althoughmy other Emu, the three Cassowaries,and the two Rheaswere fond of them. Someof the birds were very dainty about their eating and rarely ate all I gave them, while I ' had onebig SouthAfrican Ostrich which not only ate all I gave him, but usually ate what the other Ostrichesleft in their feed" boxes. Althoughred beetswere on the bill of fare for the Ostriches, they caredlittle for them,and alwaysate everythingelse in pre-. ference to the beets. In eachcage was kept an earthenvessel filled with groundbone, crushedshell, and grit, and eachstruthious bird receiveda little fresh choppedbone and every rV•ondayand Thursday. I was surprisedto find the Cassowaries,especially the Papuans, pickingup the pebbleswhen the cagefloor was fresh sandedeach morning,and swallowingthem. This was hardly to be expected in a bird not a seedeater, but supposedto subsistexclusively on fruit, vegetables,grass, and ihe like. The Emusand Rheasalso gatheredpebbles. Onemorning I waswalking through the servicepassage back of the cages,when I sawa mousethat had beencaught between a bar and the feedbox in the cageof the femalePapuan . Thinking that possiblythe mousehad gotten poisonor died of somedisease, I stoppedto get him out of the cage. But the bird discoveredhim at the same time I did, and before I could reach the rodent, sheseized him in her bill, shookhim as a terrier shakes a mouseor rat, evidentlyto make surehe was dead,then gavehim a toss and swallowed him. A little later I tried the Cassowaries with dead mice which I had caught in a trap, and the Australian as well as the Papuan ate them readily. I then put a mouseinto the west Emu cage,but it lay there for sometime. Then I put it into the feedbox of the Emu in the big centercage. When let in from the paddock,he picked the feed from under it, seemingnot to carefor the rodent. I did not feed the bird that night and do not know if he ate the mouseor not, but the nextSmorning it was not in thefeed box. ¾ol.1923XL'l J Snrax,Struthtous B6ds. 637

! told Mr. Hess,for morethan thirty yearskeeper of the Reptile House,about my experiencewith the Cassowariesand the mice, and he said,"Oh yes,they are very fondof them." lie told me, too, that before the Ostrichhouse was built, severalCassowaries were kept in the Antelopehouse and Elephant house. They were "off their feed" and got poor. GeorgeHarrison, one of the old keepers,cut up raw boneand the marrow and gave it to them, They ate of it ravenously. Their health pickedup and they got fat. The femalesbegan laying and laid a largenumber of . Harrisonalso chopped up oystershells, thrown out from restaurantsand hotels,containing a little meat, and fed to them. lie would also burn charcoal for them. From these facts it would seem that the Cassowaries are not in their native state so ex- clusivelyvegetarian in diet as is commonlybelieved. Under the old systemof feeding,when Arthur Erwin Brownwas Secretaryof the Zo61ogicalSociety, the African Ostrichesreceived more greenstuff, lettuce,cabbage, etc., than they do under the later regimen. Then the femaleswould lay an every alter- nate day for long periodsof time. For a long time I could not find that the male ever drank any water. H;s drinkingvessel was never more empty than might be due to evaporation;there was never any water splashedabout it, as was almostalways the casewith the other Ostriches,and I never found him at the water. This was true even in the hottest weather. But, finally, one morning about the first of September,I caught him at the bucket apparently drinking. But he took a few sips only. This was a clear, sun- shinyday, but not verywarm. He nevermussed his cage much. The three South Africans always had a litter of sand and other dirt kicked qp on th,e footboardof their cages,and considerable out in the front servicepassage, while the Somalishad very little. The has the best developedwing of any strutlxiousbird, and frequentlygoes about with the wingslifted from the body, as do also the Ostriches. This is never done by the Emu or Casso- wary. The skeletonof the Cassowaryshows the wing bones feeblydeveloped, but neverhaving examined a bird in the flesh, I do not know if the wing is free from the skin of the body or not. Both the male and femaleOstrich make a hissingsound, but the 638 SH•K,8truthious Birds. [oc•.Attk male only makesthe soundcalled "booming." I-Ie possessesa gular air bag capable of considerableinflation. The sound is not producedby forcingthe air outof this bag,as might beexpected. On the contrary, the bag fills as he utters this boom, enlarging with the first coarsenote, beginningat once to subside,but the subsidenceis arrestedby a secondboom, when the gular bag is enlargedmore. A secondsubsidence is arrestedby a third boom, whenthe bag is enlargedstill more. The boomingmay end with the third note, or there may be a fourth, after which the bag gradually subsides. Then the Ostrich begins all over again. He maygo through this performancethree or evenfour times in suc- cession. The performanceseems to costhim considerableexertion. It is probablyboth a love note to the hen and a challengeto rival males. At a short distance the call resembles the roar of the lion a mile or more away. I never heard them make the "cackling sound" mentionedby somewriters. The Rhea has a peculiarcall or cry, but it is givenonly at rare intervals. It soundsmuch like the syllables "wah-hoo," with the first slightlyprolonged, and the secondconsiderably so. It is given in a deepbass tone. They make a hissingnoise when angry, as do alsothe Cassowaries.The latter have,too, a sort of cluckingnote. I do not rememberever to have heard an Emu make any kind of vocal sound except a sort of low grunting, rumblingnoise, made deep in the throat, and somewhatsimilar to the boom of the Ostrich. ! oftenobserved the two male Rheas,in the paddockstogether, standfacing each other at a shortdistance, spreading and fluttering the wingsin a love-makingscene. The Ostriches,both male and 'female,would frequently spread and flutter the wings,at the same time rockingthe wholebody from side to side,in an attempt at love-making. Sometimesthey woulddo this standing,sometimes "kneeling," with the tarsi protrudingstraight out in front. The smaller.of my male South Africanswould frequentlygo through this performancewhen I came near him, alwayskneeling before me. He was a bird of good disposition. Sinceno two of our struthiousbirds, with the exceptionof the Rheas, could be kept together, the eggswere not fertile. Only one of our birdslaid with any regularitywhile I wasin the Ostrich Vol.1923 J SHEAK,Siruihious Birds. 639

House. This was the South African. Beginningabout the first of May she averagedtwo eggsa week during the summer. For six or eighthours before laying, shewould appear listless and would take no food. The presenceof the eggwas indicatedby a great swellingnear the vent. Sheusually dropped her eggsin the inside cage;only oncedid she drop one on the groundof the paddock. In an hour after laying shewould be eatingand in as lively spirits as usual. She was goodnatured and offeredno objectionto my taking her eggs. I usuallywent to the doorof the cageand drew the eggout with a gardenrake. One evening,however, forgetting my caution,I went into the cageto get the egg. This disturbed the bird and in steppingaround, she kicked the eggwith suffleient force to roll it over againstthe cement "footboard" and crack the shell. SuperintendentBrown said I might take it home and cook it, which I did. When boiled I found the yolk smallerin proportion to the bulk of the "white" than in the Commonben's egg,but the flavor wasmuch the same. Sinceone Ostrichegg is equal to about two dozenben's eggs, my wife and I breakfasted off Ostrich egg for a week. The eggsof the two speciesdiffer considerably,that of the South Africanbeing a rich ereamcolor, deeply pitted, and ovalin shape, while that of the SomaliOstrich is white, almost smooth,and al- most round, being very little greater in one diameter than in the other. The period of incubationis from forty-two to forty-five days. The hen sitson the eggsduring the hoursof daylightand the maleat night,hence the gray of the female,harmonizing with the color of the prevailingsand of the native habitat, and the black and white of the male, inconspicuousin the darkness. As both our Rheaswere males, we had no eggs. Both our Ernus were males,but we had an egg in the OstrichHouse from a hen formerlykept in the Garden. It is a very dark green,verging on blue. The eggof the Cassowaryis a very light tea green. The African Ostrich does not reach full size until he is three or four yearsold, but his first feathersmay be ready for plucking as early as the tenderage of nine months. After that he yieldsa harvest of plumesabout oncein every eight months. The most valuablefeathers come from the wing of the male. These are long, broad, snowywhite, and twenty-fourin numberfrom each 640 s•r•, StruthiousBirds. [oct.Auk wing. These' are the primaries. The secondariesare much smaller, a dull black or even gray in color, and of coursemuch less valuable. The tail of the male are second in size and value. They are a beautiful jet or glossy black. They are almostas fine and beautifulas the primaries. The gray wing and tail plumesof the female,while smallerthan thoseof the male, are still very beautiful. The black and white wing covertsof the male and the gray wing covertsof the female, are very soft and pretty, and are muchin demandwhen made into boas,fans, and other ornamental articles. The long quills of the Rhea are not without beauty and are usedextensively in the manufactureof dusters. The feathersof the Emu and Cassowaryare of interest to the naturalist from the greatdevelopment of the aftershaft,this beingequal in every way to the shaft,making the structureappear as two featherson onequill. Thesedouble shafted feathers are alsoin considerable demandby milliners. While I was at the Garden a milliner told me that many of the apparentLesser Bird of Paradiseplumes are Emu feathers dyed. Of all my struthiousbirds, the Rheas were the best natured. They werealways ready to go out of the cageas soonas the doors were openedin the morning, eager to comein to eat, and easily drivenin at night. I couldgo among them in the cageor paddock as among domesticfowls. Only once did they causeme any trouble. One Sundayevening they objectedto goingindoors at closingtime. The weatherwas too fine and the hour too early to retire, in their estimation. They led me a merry chaseall over the yard anddid considerablehissing, and I had to get the raketo drlvethem into the house. The experiencewas rather humiliating. My wife wasat the Gardenand I had just beenbragging to her what goodbirds my Rheas were. The African Ostricheswere generallyfairly good-natured. The youngSomali birds received from Californiawould gather about me at feedingtime like barnyardfowls. My wife went in the paddockone Sunday evening with me and they wanted to eatthe flowersoff her hat. My largermale South African,however, was meanand irritable. I couldnot enter the cagewith him without first attractinghis attentionelsewhere. I wouldusually throw 'Vol,1923 XL] J SHEAK,Struthious Birds. 641 him about three-fourthsof a poundloaf of bread,stale and hard, too big for him to swallowwhole, but of.such a sizethat he thought he couldswallow it, and while he was workingwith the bread I would enter the cage and clean it. But if I touchedhis toes with the rake or shovel,he would bristle up like a turkey cock. Fre- quently he would walk up and down the fencetrying to get at the sightseers. The ]•mus never offered any objection to my entering the cageswith them. The Cassowaryis essentiallya bird of the thick forestrather than of the plainsand cannot bearthe glaring light and heat of midsummerwhich is the delight of the Ostrich. He seeksthe shadewith mouthopen and tongueprotruding. The Australian Cassowarynever attacked me in the cage, but one morning,as I was reachingbetween the barsto unfastenthe door, he chargedwith a vicioushiss, kicking at me with great force. Fortunatelyfor my hand and wrist his aimwas poor and he only grazed the member. He is a much better-natured bird than the Papuanand this is shownin his morenoble posture and carriage. He goesabout with his head in the air, lookingthe world in the face, while his cousin from New Guinea sneaks around with his head low and his eyeson the ground,like the evll creaturehe is. My male Papuan Cassowarywas the most irreligiousbird I ever knew. He had a diabolicaldisposition. He was always ready for a fight and would never permit me to enter the cage with him. When I openedthe doorsin the morning,all the other birds were eagerto get out, but the male Papuancould not be persuadedto leavethe insidecage as longas I waswatching him. I would openhis door, then go to the other sideof the houseand busymyself cleaning cages. In half an hour or so I would slip back on tiptoe to seeif he had forgottenhimself and goneout. I generallyhad to make severalsuch stealthy reconnaissances beforeI caughthim unawares. If heheard me coming, even if he wereat the furthermostcorner of the paddock,he wouldstart back at full speed,and just hump himselfto get insidebefore I could close the door. He and I had many a kicking match. One morningthe doorstuck and he thoughtit wasa goodtime to get that keeper. He came at me like a whirlwind, but he kicked just a little too soonand his foot merelytouched my stomach. 642 ss•K, StruthiousBirds. [oct;.Auk

This gave me an opportunityand I planted my shoewith full force in his gizzard. He respondedwith a grunt. Thinking dis- cretionthe better part of valor, he went on into the cage. I did not alwaysfare so fortunately, however,for once he kicked me in the side till I was lame for a week. The kick of all the Ostrich-like birds is forwards and downwards. They can not kick backwards,but can kick considerablyto one side of straight-forward. I have seenthe Emu kick at an angle of at least forty-five degreesfrom the straight-forwarddirection. never knew one of these birds to jump on an antagonist when down. It seemsthey can strike a telling blow only at a heightof two or three feet from the ground. I was always told to lie down if attacked. The only act I ever observedin any of thesebirds that had the least resemblanceto intelligencewas shown by my big South African. He seemed,at least, to work a schemeto get a piece of bread. I have alreadyspoken of his mean dispositionand how I was in the habit of throwinghim a big pieceof breadwith which to amusehimself while I cleanedhis cage. He was alwayshungry and not only ate all I gave him, but usually cleanedup what the other Ostriches left in their boxes. Several times toward the end of my stay in the Garden,when I wasready to cleanhis cageand openedthe doors,he lingeredinside and refusedto go out. So I would get a pieceof bread,break it into small pieces,and throw them into the paddock. He would rush out eagerly to get the bread. After a time his stayingin the cagebecame a settledhabit. No matter how long I waited, he would not go out till I went for the bread. When he saw me come from the feed room, he would immediately run out of his cage,even beforeI had time to get out of the houseand throw him the bread. However, there may not have beenas much designin this as was apparent. 15• N. œ1stSt., Philadelphia, Pa.