The bushveld farmer and his friend left their Land Rover and crept carefully forward. Soon they could see the courting pair in a clearing. What huge birds! The ostrich is easily the largest bird on earth. But how gracefully it can dance!

For the first few months I was hardly distinguishable from my sisters. Our tail feathers were the same. At eight months it came time, under the peacock system, to leave home and fend for myself. This gave mother a respite before her next stint at family raising. By this time I was developing my characteristic tail feathers that grow above the real tail feathers. It is a slow process. Not until my fourth year of life could I hope to attain the full male plumage.

IT ALL began when I chipped my way through the eggshell and stumbled into the realm of birdlife. I stood there blinking in the tropical sunlight, bewildered. It was all so strange, everything was frightening. Instinctively, I knew mama. I snuggled into her, underneath her protective wing. There I was safe, I was loved. To me mama appeared so strong, so confident, it made me feel secure.

As I observed its maneuvers, I could not help but think that the nearest man has got to the design of a hummingbird is a helicopter. And yet, what a clumsy contraption it seems in comparison!

Remarkable speeds of 53 miles per hour (85 km/h) in normal flight, with peaks of over 71 miles per hour (114 km/h), have been measured. Migratory species are even more surprising, for they cover tremendous distances. Of the three North American hummingbirds, ruby-throat and rufous migrate some 2,000 miles (3,200 km) to their winter quarters.