BIRD-KINDNESS.
[To THE EDITOR OR TOR "SPECTATOR"] SIR,—Noticing an extremely interesting letter in the Spectator of January 28th, I would beg to give you an account of bird-kindness witnessed by a doctor, another minister, and myself here in Durban. During an exceptionally heavy tropical rain three weeks ago, two ducks of the common half- bred native and Bombay variety got washed in the flood down the Umgeni River, which flows through the Town Gardens. The ducks both got entangled in the barbed wire and wire netting which crosses from bank to bank. One managed by much flapping of wings to extricate itself ; the other seemed, however, to be on the point of drowning, when a large cock ostrich stalked out of the bush and waded into the river, lifted it bodily out of the water, and carried it ashore by one wing. The duck was not badly hurt, but its rescuer was severely torn on its thigh muscles by the barbed wire. I may mention that this is all the more remarkable as the ostrich, with rare exceptions, buries its head in the sand during a storm, and will starve to death sooner than move. The same ostrich is a well-known character in Durban, the Kaffir gardener being its especial bête noire, many being the tales told of single combat between the two, bird versus " boy."—I am, Sir, &c., R. G. PEARSE. St. Cyprian's Vicarage, Durban, Natal.
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