It is asserted that at such times they are occasionally fierce, and even dangerous, and that they have been known to attack a man on horseback, trying to kick and leap on him.

My informer pointed out to me an old man, whom he had seen much terrified by one chasing him.

I observe in Burchell's "Travels in South Africa" that he remarks, "Having killed a male ostrich, and the feathers being dirty, it was said by the Hottentots to be a nest bird." I understand that the male emu in the Zoological Gardens takes charge of the nest: this habit, therefore, is common to the family.
The Gauchos unanimously affirm that several females lay in one nest.

I have been positively told that four or five hen birds have been watched to go in the middle of the day, one after the other, to the same nest.

I may add, also, that it is believed in Africa that two or more females lay in one nest.