O^Tincn FAL'ML\(1 JX SOl'TII AFh'ICA 



375 



feiaiiinu' in tlio chick, wlicii on sudden 

 alarm it flops (]own with its lon^- neck 

 and head prone on the ground, can l)i> 

 regarded as the origin of the oppi-o- 

 hriuni. In handling the hird. as during 

 the operations of clipping and quilling, 

 the eyes are hooded and its nervous 

 restlessness is tlierehv overcome. 



Personal attachments and responsive- 

 ness, such as are manifested by all 

 domesticated animals toward those who 

 care for them, are wholly lacking in the 

 ostrich. A glimmering of distinction 

 between the familiar and the unfa- 

 miliar ]ierson. and a feeble tendency 

 to the formation of the simplest habits, 

 such as coming at call to be fed 

 or traveling more readily along fre- 

 quented directions, represent practi- 

 cally all the education of which the bird 

 is capable. Attachment between mates, 

 even after being camped together sea- 

 son after season, seems nonexistent ; 

 and the regard and care of offspring 

 have manifestations of only the sim- 

 plest character. 



The success which has attended the 

 domestication of the ostrich as a means 

 of plumage supply has stimulated 



ihdught ill Sdulli Africa in llic dii-ec- 

 tion of tlic (lonicst icnt ion of other 

 ])hnnage bii-ds. It is held tliat just as 

 one bird has liccn rcndcriMl amenable to 

 farming practice, and done much to 

 adorn the world, so others may be 

 adapted according to tlieir own par- 

 ticular instincts and needs. His own 

 industry conducted on the highest hu- 

 mane principles, the South African 

 farmer has no synijiathy with the ruth- 

 less destruction of wild hird life for 

 millinery purposes, (lather, however, 

 than follow a wholly repressive or pro- 

 hibitive policy, he would incpiire if 

 birds suitable for the purpose could not, 

 as in the case of the ostrich, be brought 

 to render legitimate service to the deco- 

 rative needs of mankind. No personal 

 adornment is so attractive as that of 

 ])lumage ; peoples of all lands and in all 

 times have been held in sway by it — the 

 ostrich plume has been transported 

 from the native kraal even to the 

 thrones of kings and queens; and, if 

 secured under circumstances in har- 

 mony with the highest humane consid- 

 erations, a high service is rendered the 

 aesthetic nature of man. 



