Owen had the good fortune also to establish the former existence of the moa, and, in this case, without any pictorial chart for his assistance. During the year 1839 it was, that somebody-it matters not who-returning from New Zealand, brought with him, among other things, a bone-a bone of considerable antiquity, that is to say. He took that bone to Professor Owen, and solicited the great naturalist's opinion. The bone was no less than five inches round. Was it the bone of a quadruped or of a giant man? Well, the Professor having noticed a certain honeycomb-like structure announced his belief. It was neither a quadruped's bone, nor a giant man's bone-it was the thigh bone of a bird. Some people smiled; some held their tongues; and some, but comparatively few, acquiesced in the testimony of the naturalist. The man of nature, however, scorned to do things by halves. Not content with affirming the particular bone to be the thigh bone of a bird, he described what sort of a bird it must have been: that it must have been a walking bird, for example. He moreover indicated the probable size and shape of this walking bird. "Well, it is all very pretty for you to say this, Mr. Owen," exclaimed certain of the incredulous; "prove it." And the incredulous having thrown down that gauge of defiance voted the big bone a delusion and a snare. Proof, however, was to be forthcoming, all in proper time. Eventually other big bones were discovered in New Zealand, and collected and transmitted to Professor Owen. They proved to be remnants of the same species of gigantic bird; and, being put together skeleton fashion, the naturalist's opinion was vindicated, and the carpers were silenced.

I must not terminate these remarks about walking birds, without announcing that some few years ago ostriches had been hatched in Italy; and last year, for the first time, a brood was hatched in France. The result would have happened long ago, if only the habits of ostriches had been duly reflected upon. They are, in the

first place, very shy birds; secondly, their nest is a hole in the sand. The successful hatching of ostriches in France happened last summer, and was brought about by leaving the creature in a solitary district having a sandy surface, such as there are many of in the south of France. Seventeen or eighteen were hatched.

A pair of American ostriches (Rhea) have since hatched at the Regent's Park Zoological Gardens. I ought more correctly to say that the male did the hatching, as the whole business of incubation is gallantly undertaken by the husband.

OSTRICH HUNTING.

THE capture of the ostrich (we are told by Mr. Tristram, in his interesting book on the Sahara) is the greatest feat of hunting to which the Saharan sportsman aspires, and in richness of booty it ranks next to the plunder of a caravan. So great is the cost and toil of the chase, that it is generally estimated the capture of an ostrich cannot be effected without the loss of a horse or two. So wary is the bird, and so vast are the plains over which it roams, that no artifices or ambuscades can be of any avail. The only resource is to pursue them with dogged perseverance, and for this work the poor horses have to undergo a long and painful training. The North African ostrich is less gregarious than that of the Cape, generally living in companies of from four to six individuals, which do not appear to be in the habit, under ordinary circumstances, of wandering more than twenty or thirty miles from their headquarters. A skin in full plumage is worth from forty to a hundred Spanish dollars.

"Once and once only," says Mr. Tristram, "I had the good fortune to take an ostrich's nest, though fresh eggs were not

unfrequently brought in by the Arabs. It was some months subsequent to this occasion, when we observed with our telescopes two birds standing for some time in the same spot, and were induced to ride towards them. They rapidly scudded off, but on intersecting the track, we turned back and retraced it, instead of continuing a vain pursuit. An ostrich's track is by no means easy either to follow or retrace, for his stride measures, at full speed, from twenty-two to twenty-eight feet, and the oblong impression of two toes at such wide intervals, affords no very evident 'spoor' to any eyes less expert than those of a Bedouin huntsman. We retraced the impressions to the spot where we had seen the birds standing together, and where the sand was well trodden down. Two Arabs, at once dismounting, began to dig with their hands, and presently brought up four fine fresh eggs from the depth of about a foot under the warm sand. They are excellent eating, and cannot be distinguished from hens' eggs in flavour. Ostrich egg omelet we always found a most welcome addition to our desert bill of fare, and a convenient and portable provision, for, from the thickness of the shell, the eggs keep perfectly sweet and fresh for a fortnight or three weeks."

On another occasion the travellers saw six ostriches, and after using their telescopes, made them out, but at a great distance. Of course the Arabs galloped wildly in pursuit, though, unsuccessful as usual, they returned in an hour or two. There is something apparently irresistible to the nomad in the charm of an ostrich hunt, and often as the exhausted horses had vainly suffered in the toilsome pursuit, there was no restraining their attendants, when the alarm was given, from scampering wildly over the plains. The most skilful sportsmen generally adopt the plan of sending two or three hunters to follow the herd at a gentle gallop, endeavouring only to keep the birds in sight without alarming them, when they would take to their full speed and be speedily lost to view. In