Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/73

S T O S W 63 travels in South Africa, is perhaps one of the best we have, and since his narrative l has been neglected by most of its more recent historians we may do well by calling attention thereto. Though sometimes assembling in troops of from thirty to fifty, and then generally associat ing with zebras or with some of the larger antelopes, Ostriches commonly, and especially in the breeding season, live in companies of not more than four or five, one of which is a cock and the rest are hens. All the latter lay their eggs in one and the same nest, a shallow pit scraped out by their feet, with the earth heaped around to form a kind of wall against which the outermost circle of eggs rest. As soon as ten or a dozen eggs are laid, the cock begins to brood, always taking his place on them at nightfall surrounded by his wives, while by day they relieve one another, more it would seem to guard their common treasure from jackals and small beasts-of-prey than directly to forward the process of hatching, for that is often left wholly to the sun. 2 Some thirty eggs are laid in the nest, and round it are scattered perhaps as many more. These last are said to be broken by the old birds to serve as nourishment for the newly- hatched chicks, whose stomachs cannot bear the hard food on which their parents thrive. The greatest care is taken by them not only to place the nest where it may not be discovered, but to avoid being seen when going to or from it, and their solicitude for their tender young is no less. Andersson in his Lake N gami (pp. 253-269) has given a lively account of the pursuit by himself and Mr Francis Galton of a brood of Ostriches, in the course of which the father of the family flung himself on the ground and feigned being wounded to distract their attention from his offspring. Though the Ostrich ordinarily inhabits the most arid districts, it requires water to drink; more than that, it will frequently bathe, and sometimes even, accord ing to Von Heuglin, in the sea. The question whether to recognize more than one species of Ostrich, the Struthio cameliis of Linnaeus, has been for some years agitated without leading to a satis factory solution. It has long been known that, while eggs from North Africa present a perfectly smooth surface, those from South Africa are pitted (see BIRDS, vol. iii. p. 775, note 1). It has also been observed that northern birds have the skin of the parts not covered with feathers flesh-coloured, while this skin is bluish in southern birds, and hence the latter have been thought to need specific designation as >S. aiistralis. Still more recently examples from the Somali country have been described as forming a distinct species under the name of 8. molybdophanes from the leaden colour of their naked parts. The genus Struthio forms the type of one group of the Subclass Ratitx, which differs so widely from the rest, in points that have been concisely set forth by Prof. Huxley (Proc. Zool. Society, 1867, p. 419), as to justify us in regarding it as an Order, to which the name Struthiones may be applied (see ORNITHOLOGY, p. 44); but that term, as well as Struthionidx, has been often used in a more general sense by systematists, even to signify the whole of the Ratitse, and hence for the present caution must be 1 M. H. K. Lichtenstein, Reise im siidlichen Africa, ii. pp. 42-45 (Berlin, 1812). 2 By those whose experience is derived from the observation of captive Ostriches this fact has been often disputed. But, to say nothing of the effects of the enforced monogamy in which such birds live, the difference of circumstances under which they find themselves, and in particular their removal from the heat-retaining sands of the desert and its burning sunshine, is quite enough to account for the change of habit. Von Heuglin also (p. 933) is explicit on this point. That the female Ostriches while on duty crouch down to avoid detection is only natural, and this habit seems to have led hasty observers to suppose they were really brooding. exercised as to whether certain fossil remains from the Sivalik formation, referred to " Struthionidse, " be re garded as true Ostriches or not. The most obvious distinctive character presented by the Ostrich is the pre sence of two toes only, the third and fourth, on each foot, a character absolutely peculiar to the genus Struthio. The great mercantile value of Ostrich-feathers, and the increasing difficulty, due to the causes already mentioned, of procuring them from wild birds, has led to the forma tion in the Cape Colony and elsewhere of numerous "Ostrich-farms," on which these birds are kept in con finement, and at regular intervals of time deprived of their plumes. In favourable localities and with judicious man agement these establishments are understood to yield very considerable profit; while, as the ancient taste for wearing Ostrich-feathers shews no sign of falling off, but seems rather to be growing, it is probable that the practice will yet be largely extended. Among the more important treatises on this bird may be men tioned : E. D Alton, Die Skclcte dcr Straussartigcn Vogel abgebildet und beschrieben, folio, Bonn, 1827; P. L. Sclater, "On the Stru- thious Birds living in the Zoological Society s Menagerie," Trans actions, iv. p. 353, containing the finest representation (pi. 67), by Mr Wolf, ever published of the male Struthio camelus ; Prof. Mivart, "On the Axial Skeleton of the Ostrich," op. tit., viii. p. 385 ; Prof. Haughton, " On the Muscular Mechanism of the Leg of the Ostrich," Ann. Nat. History, ser. 3, xv. pp. 262-272 ; and Prof. Macalister, " On the Anatomy of the Ostrich, " Proc. R. Irish Academy, ix. pp. 1-24. (A. N.) OSTUNI, a city of Italy, in the province of Lecce, 23 miles by rail north-west of Brindisi. It is a bishop s see, has a cathedral of the 15th century with a fine Romanesque fagade, several other churches of some interest, a municipal library with a collection of antiquities, and a technical school. The population was 14,422 in 1871 and 15,199 in 1881, that of the commune being 16,295 and 18,226. OSUNA, a town of Spain, in the province of Seville, distant 48 miles by road and 57 by rail east-south-east from that city, is built in a semicircular form on the slope of a hill, at the edge of a fertile plain watered by the Salado, a sub-tributary of the Guadalquivir. On the top of the hill, which commands an extensive view, stands the collegiate church, a mixed Gothic and cinquecento building, contain ing several good specimens of Kibera, which, however, as well as the sculptures over the portal, suffered considerably during the occupation of the place by Soult. The vaults, which are supported by Moorish arches, contain the tombs of the Giron family, by one of whom, Don Juan Tellez, the church was founded in 1534. The university of Osuna, founded also by him in 1549, was suppressed in 1820 ; but the large building is still used as a secondary school. A great number of the inhabitants of Osuna are engaged in agriculture, and the making of esparto mats employs many of the poorer people. Earthenware, bricks, oil, soap, linen, hats, are also manufactured; and barley, oil, and wheat are sent in large quantities to Seville and Malaga. The population of the ayuntamiento in 1877 was 17,211. Osuna, the Urso of Hirtius, where the Pompeians made their last stand, was afterwards called by the Romans Gemina Urbanorum, from the fact, it is said, that two urban legions were simultaneously quartered there. The place was taken from the Moors in 1239, and Driven by Alphonso the Wise to the knights of Calatrava in 1264. Don Pedro Giron appropriated it to himself in 1445. One of his descendants founded the university, and another, Don Pedro Tellez, was made duke of Osuna by Philip II. (1562). OSWALD (c. 604-642), "most Christian king of the Northumbrians," was the son of King Ethelfrith, and was born about 604. On the death of his father on the battle field in 617, he and his brothers were compelled to take refuge among the northern Celts, Avhere they are said to have received baptism. The fall of King Edwin in 633 permitted their return, and after the death of Eanfrid,