The So-called Ostrich in the God Speeches 509 number of other ways, however, an oblique response to Job. The book began with Job losing his oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, house, and children (Job 1,13-22). In the epilogue, all Job’s brothers and sisters come to eat with him in his house (42,11). He again has seven sons and three daughters (42,13), and lives long enough to see his children and “children’s children” (42,16). The emphasis on home, food, and offspring in the animal discourse form a literary connection with the prologue of the book of Job. God responds to the loss of Job’s children with questions about God’s care for the children of many animals that are wild and fearsome to humans. * ** In conclusion, correctly identifying the µynnr as a sand grouse clarifies the meaning of the Hebrew of the passage and its wider literary connections. Sand grouse have distinctive, musical calls that explain a name with an intensive plural ending whose root in the context refers to a cry of joy. These musical calls combined with strong, acrobatic flight also explain the expression “the wing of the µynnr rejoices” (v. 13a). Sand grouse lay their eggs directly on arid, dusty ground (v. 14). When a predator approaches, they forget their own safety and risk being stepped on (v. 15) in order to draw the predator away from the nest. If this fails, the chicks are “hardy” enough to look after themselves “without her” (v. 16). The sudden, noisy flight of adult sand grouse who have relied on their camouflage until the last moment, could startle a horse. Moreover, some of their alarm calls sound like laughter so that, when the sand grouse “soars on high” it might seem to be “laughing at the horse” (v. 18). Clearing away Western folk tales helps clarify the literary relationship of the pericope to the rest of the animal discourse, the God speeches, and the book of Job. The sand grouse pericope shares with them an emphasis on home and young. The book of Job begins with Job losing his children and ends with the restoration of community and, although it could never replace the first one, a new family. God responds to Job’s questions about the justice of the world with an enigmatic portrayal of the sand grouse whose musical calls and strong flight seem joyous, but who appears unkind and unwise as a parent. Yet she risks her life to draw away predators and her young are hardy and independent enough to survive on their own. Although they lack the fearsome power of a horse, sand grouse may startle a horse. Their