PLUMAGES OF THE OSTRICH DUERDEN. 565 



(remiges) are from 1 to 2 feet in length when full grown, and, 

 like the later wing quills, vary much in length, breadth, and other 

 characters according to tlie strain. Like the rest of the chick feathers 

 they never form the full rounded tip characteristic of the later wing 

 quills, but taper considerably, hence their technical name of spadona, 

 derived from the Italian spadone, the name for a long, heavy sword 

 (pi, 2, fig. 2). The flue is somewhat narrow and thin compared with 

 that of the later wing quills, and light brown above and white or gray 

 below^, the white being the more valuable. As the spadonas attain 

 their full leng-th they seem disproportionately large for a chick of 

 5 or 6 months, and when the wings are at rest the feathers of oppo- 

 site sides may cross over one another under the body and behind 

 the legs. From their nearness to the ground, the tips are more or 

 less worn away as the plumes become fully grown. 



The rectrices, or tail quills, are white below, gray above, and 

 tipped with the usual brown, varying much in the proportions of the 

 different tints. They are much shorter than the wing quills, and, 

 like them, taper toward their free end. 



The body feathers of the back and sides vary somewhat in length 

 from different parts of the chick, and also in different strains of 

 birds, but they all narrow toward their free end. The wing coverts 

 and body feathers are of much the same shape, narrowing consider- 

 ably toward the tip. The lower part of each is a light or- dark gray 

 color, while the upper part is light brown; the boundary between 

 the two colors is irregidar, and the proportion of the two colors on 

 each feather also varies considerably. The chick feathers on the 

 under part of the body are white or gray, and do not overlap in the 

 same way as the upper feathers. 



The wing quills or spadonas of the chick are practically the only 

 feathers of any commercial importance at this stage, the wing coverts 

 and tails having but little value. The spadonas complete their 

 growth, as regards the whole of the plume and an inch or so of the 

 quill, by the time the chicks are from 6 to 7 months old, and are 

 then clipped for sale. The quill is, however, allowed to remain 

 in the socket in order to complete its development. This requires 

 about two months longer, so that the feathei' has not actually finished 

 its growth and ripened before the chick is 8 or 8^ months old, by 

 which time all the other feathers have ripened and many have been 

 replaced by the feathers of the next plumage. As the feather ripens, 

 the red blood in the central medulla or pith can be seen to recede 

 slowly down the quill, which then becomes white and dry, filled with 

 air, and hollow except for the presence of the horny feather cones 

 which successively cut off the medulla. By the end of two months 

 from clipping, the quills are practically ripe ; that is, the blood has 

 left the medulla and the whole quill has hardened and is narrowed 



