i6o 



AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



danger of destruction by the parent, either caused by fright on the part of 

 the hen Ostrich, resulting in breaking the eggs while in the nest, or by 

 the irregular appetite of the male, who will in some cases acquire a habit 

 of eating the fresh laid eggs of his partner. The Ostrich industry has al- 

 ready attained proportions of sufficient size to interest capital; and today 

 not a single Ostrich can be bought for love or money uncontrolled by the 

 competitive demand of this Ostrich trust. For purposes of revenue most 

 of the Ostrich farms of America are dependent upon the object of interest 

 which these strange bipeds are to the tourists from the north; who annual- 

 ly visitthe warmer climates of this country, in which only can the African 

 Ostrich thrive. Exhibitions are made of the birds at Northern expositions, 

 but these exhibits are by no means Ostrich farms in the true sense of that 



OSTRICH FARM. 



term, as seen in Californij, and but very few chicks are ever hatched at 

 these temporary displays. 



One of the most perfect and entertaining Ostrich farms of America lies 

 on the border of a small town in Southern California called Pasadena. 

 Here, at the head of the San Gabriel Valley and within five miles of Los 

 Angeles, the metropolis of Southern California, is found an ideal procreat- 

 ing location for the Ostrich. Sheltered somewhat from the sea breezes, 

 about three hundred feet above the level of the ocean, fed carefully on the 

 best the market affords and regularly attended by the most skilled Ostrich 

 farmer in the country, these collections of Ostriches, numbering altogeth- 

 er one hundred and twenty-five birds of all ages, are increasing rapidly; 

 seldom is a death recorded and the proximity of the institution to the pop- 

 ular Los Angeles and Pasadena, so much visited by tourists, insures a con- 

 stant flow of silver, through the gates of the Ostrich Farm. 



