in the surmounting egg. This serves as the
first food of the nestlings; and for this purpose, though open, it
continues long without spoiling, which is the more necessary, as the
delim does not break all the eggs on the same day, but only three or
four, and so on, as he hears the young ones stirring within. This egg
is always liquid, but whether by a provision of nature in its original
composition, or through the instinct of the parent-birds in avoiding
to keep it covered like the rest, is not ascertained. The young ones,
having received this their first nourishment, are immediately dried in
the sun, and begin to run about; in a few days they follow the
parent-birds to the pastures, always returning to shelter under their
wings in the nest.

The paternal affection of the delim is remarkable: he never leaves his
offspring; he faces every danger, and combats every foe in their
defence. The reumda, on the contrary, is easily terrified, and leaves
all to secure her own safety; so that it is usual to compare a man who
bravely defends his tent to a delim, and a pusillanimous soul to a
reumda. The delim finds himself more than a match for the dog, the
jackal, the hyaena, or the eagle: man is his only invincible foe; yet
he dares to wage the unequal war when the young are in danger. If the
Arabs desire to make a prey of the ral, as the young ostriches are
called, they follow their footmarks, and having nearly overtaken them,
they begin to shout; the terrified birds run to their parents, who
face about, and stand still to fight for them; so the Arabs lead away
the ral before their eyes, in spite of the bravadoes of the delim, who
then manifests the liveliest grief. Sometimes the greyhound is
employed in this sport: the delim attacks him, and while they are
fighting, the men carry off the young ones, to bring them up in their
tents.

The ral are easily tamed; they sleep under the tent, are exceedingly
lively, and play with the children and dogs. When the tents are struck
for a flitting, the pet ostriches follow the camels, and are never
known to make their escape during the migration. If a hare passes, and
the men start in pursuit of it, the ostrich darts off in the same
direction, and joins the chase. If she meets in the douar (village of
tents) a child holding any eatable thing in its hand, she lays him
gently on the ground, and robs without hurting him. But the tame
ostrich is a great thief, or rather is so voracious, it de