336 OSCAR RIDDLE. 



already referred to. While this part of the present work was 

 well on the way toward completion Professor Duerden 1 re- 

 ported the "bars" (these are the exact equivalent of fault-bars 

 of type 1) in the ostriches, and is at present attempting to rid 

 those birds of them. He estimates that the value of the ostrich 

 plumes from South Africa alone, are, by the presence of these 

 defects, depreciated in value to the extent of ^"250,000 annually. 



In the Bird Group. — The defects, however, are not confined 

 to hybrid pigeons and domesticated ostriches. By simply 

 looking for them it has been easy to find them everywhere. 

 The pronounced defects of type 1 have been seen in parrots, 

 trojans, owls, motmots, kingfishers, cuckoos, humming-birds, 

 penguins, hornbills, turkeys, doves, chicks, English sparrows, 

 herons, gulls, bluebirds, cardinals, robins, flamingoes, pheasants, 

 loons, pea-cocks, etc. ; everywhere, indeed, that I have looked 

 for them except in fossil feathers, artists' drawings, and journals 

 of ornithology ! It will be seen that the defects occur in widely 

 separated bird groups ; in primitive and in recent birds ; in land 

 and water birds ; in domesticated and in wild birds ; in birds 

 from the arctic and from the torrid zone, etc. I have been able, 

 owing to the courtesies extended by Professor C. B. Cory and 

 Dr. Ned Dearborn, of the Field Museum of Natural History in 

 Chicago, to examine a very great variety of birds belonging to 

 the Museum. I find that although it is not easy to see evident 

 defects (i: e., broad defective areas) in every specimen, it is easy 

 to find them in every species. We may conclude, therefore, that 

 they are to be found in all birds. 



It is a fact, and a significant one I think, that the defects are, 

 in general, more common in domesticated and caged birds than 

 in wild birds. In this connection, however, it should be stated 

 that the defects appear indifferently in pure breeds, hybrids and 

 mongrels. At any rate I have verified this in a number of our. 

 domesticated birds. The effects of " inbreeding " have not been 

 observed. 



In the Various Plumages and Pteryloz. — I have found the 

 emphasized defects in all of the plumages of birds, with the 

 exception of the first or downy plumage. In some birds the 



1 Loc. cit. 



