THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF BIRDS. 23 



in a season. In its raw uncleaned state Eider down is 

 worth from eight to twelve shillings a pound, but when 

 cleaned of all the particles of straw, etc., it is worth a 

 sovereign a pound. About a pound and a half is used 

 in the manufacture of an ordinary coverlet. Iceland 

 and Greenland send the greatest quantity of Eider down 

 into the market, that from the former locality being 

 valued at upwards of 5000 annually. The two 

 districts combined send perhaps eight thousand pounds 

 weight of down into the markets every year, the produce 

 of a hundred and thirty thousand nests. The drake is 

 a singularly handsome bird, and the skin of his head 

 makes a pretty border for quilts, rugs, etc. Thousands 

 of skins of the head of the Duck are sewn together to 

 form linings for cloaks, and the downy skin of the 

 underparts of the body of both sexes when stripped 

 of feathers is also made into rugs. In spite of all this 

 persecution the Eider Duck does not appear to diminish 

 in numbers. Swans' down is also used for a variety of 

 purposes, especially for trimmings, but in much smaller 

 quantities. 



Another important branch of bird industry is supplied 

 by the Ostrich. Ostrich-farming and the exportation of 

 the feathers form a considerable part of the trade of 

 South Africa. The birds are bred and kept in regular 

 -enclosures for the sake of the noble plume feathers, 

 which are used for a variety of purposes. Fashion, 



