FEATHERS AND HATS 15 
yield not only one but many crops of plumes, because they 
knew that the Ostrich is not only long-lived but, like the 
smaller birds, changes its feathers every year. 
“The Ostrich was a difficult bird to catch and tame 
when full grown, for at that time they weigh several 
hundred pounds and their habit of kicking has to be 
remembered, the same as with a wild horse. So the plan 
was tried of collecting the eggs and hatching them out, 
and even this was not as easy as it seems. 
“Though Ostriches are so foolish that, when chased, they 
will often stand still and hide their heads in the sand, 
evicently thinking that if they cannot see their pursuers, 
they themselves cannot be seen, they make devoted 
parents. And this plan was so successful that Ostriches 
are now raised like domestic fowls, not only in Africa but 
in this country, where the birds were introduced in 1882, 
and there are now many successful Ostrich farms in Ari- 
zona, California, and Florida, where alfalfa can be raised 
all the year, for this is the best food for them. 
“The breeding habits of the Ostrich in captivity are 
different from those of the wild birds of the desert who live 
half a dozen hens to a family like our barnyard fowls. 
The nest is merely a hollow in the sand a foot or so deep, 
and several broad, made by the pressure of the great 
breast-bone and sides. Eggs are laid, one every other 
day, until a ‘clutch’ of a dozen or more has accumulated, 
and these must be kept warm for nearly a month and a 
half before the chicks will be hatched. 
“When you realize that one of these eggs would make 
an omelet as large as two dozen and a half hens’ eggs, 
and weighs three or four pounds, so that the omelet 
