1 84 ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY 



Ostriches were introduced into the United States in 1882 and there 

 are now farms in Florida, Arizona, California, and elsewhere. By 

 charging an admission fee these farms produce a considerable income 

 in addition to that from the plumes. 



The birds are kept in fenced inclosures, usually in trios. The eggs 

 are collected as laid and are hatched in mammoth incubators. About 

 35 young per year per trio are produced, though a record of 133 was made 

 in South Africa. As noted above, the young are about the size of a 

 hen when hatched, and in six months they have nearly reached the 

 adult size; they are fed on chopped green alfalfa, and are given plenty 

 of water. The adults eat any sort of vegetable matter. The plumes, 

 which grow on the rudimentary wings and tail, are clipped or plucked, 

 without pain to the birds, once or twice a year, Fig. 115. Fifty dollars 

 worth of plumes may be obtained, in some cases, from one bird per year. 

 The body plumes are attractive but have, of course, far less value 

 than those from wings and tail. Plumes have been produced by 

 well-cared-for individuals for 35 to 40 years. 



One of the chief uses of birds has been, from ancient times, as food. 

 Nearly all species, unfortunately, may be eaten, but the wild ducks and 

 geese are particularly desirable, some species, like the canvas-back 

 duck, bringing high prices. These aquatic forms have been able, 

 by the aid of more or less efficient game laws, to survive the attacks 

 of sportsmen and pot hunters, but some of our most valuable birds, 

 the quail, grouse, etc., have been hunted, in many sections of the 

 country, practically to the point of extermination, and should be pro- 

 tected by a closed season of indefinite length. 



On some rocky coasts the eggs of sea birds were formerly found and 

 collected in enormous numbers, until the birds were, in many cases 

 nearly exterminated. Such was the case with the Murres of the Faral- 

 lone Islands, off the coast of California. The eggs of these birds were 

 formerly collected and sold in San Francisco by the hundreds of 

 thousands. Jamaica is the centre of a small trade in " Booby eggs," 

 laid by the Sooty Tern and the Noddy. 



A classic illustration of the extinction of a race of animals by the 

 utterly ruthless hunting of it for food is that of the wild or passenger 

 pigeon. A generation or two ago these birds were found in the States 

 west of the Alleghenies in numbers that surpassed belief. They flew 

 in flocks that were numbered in the millions, yet, today there is not, so 



