ostrichism

The act of hiding, often unsuccessfully, by ducking one's head out of view.

After a short delay, during which several aristocratic carriages rolled by—at which periods the Marquess adopted the celebrated system of ostrichism, and hid his head—the omnibus rattled on towards town.

In a second, we all three fell back on the roof of the coach, hiding our faces with our hands, and committing that gross act of ostrichism of fancying, because we could not see that we escaped observation.

A policy of burying one's head in the sand, that is, ignoring the reality of a situation.

[Torpey] had, upon the principles of ostrichism, sewn up a valuable diamond in the waistband of his trousers, which he fondly intended for his fond and loving wife; and accomplice in his crimes; […]

First let us have no ostrichism in our preparations against an invasion of this island. There are still some who scorn the idea. Can [Adolf] Hitler succeed where Napoleon failed? No, they say, the Channel is impregnable. We would do better to prepare for the worst.