Job 39:14,15

Which leaveth her eggs in the earth “The ostrich lays from thirty to fifty eggs. Ælian mentions more than eighty; but I never heard of so large a number. The first egg is deposited in the centre; the rest are placed as conveniently as possible round it. In this manner she is said to lay, deposite, or trust, her eggs in the earth, and to warm them in the sand; and forget (as they are not placed, like those of some other birds, upon trees, or in the clefts of rocks, &c.) that the foot of the traveller may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them Yet, notwithstanding the ample provision that is hereby made for a numerous offspring, scarce one quarter of these eggs are ever supposed to be hatched, and of those which are, no small share of the young ones may perish with hunger, from being left too early by their dams to shift for themselves.”