156 Bird -Lore 



breeding pair of Ostriches will produce from ten to twenty chicks per year, 

 which are worth, when six months old, $100 each; at one year, $150; at 

 two years, $200; at three years, $300 to $350. They commence to breed 

 when four years old, but do not breed satisfactorily until they are six or 

 seven years of age, when, if prolific, they are valued at from $700 to $i,000 

 per pair. Exceptionally fine birds sometimes bring as much as $i,000 each. 

 Good birds will produce from $35 to $50 worth of feathers each year, and 

 exceptional ones from $75 to $90 annually. Probably there are no wild 

 Ostriches now killed for plumage. The feathers of the domesticated bird 

 are very much finer and better than those of the wild Ostrich. 



Plucking is done by putting the Ostrich in a V-shaped corral just large 

 enough to admit its body, with room for the workman. A hood, shaped 

 like a long stocking, is placed over the head of the Ostrich, when it be- 

 comes perfectly docile. The workman then raises the wings and clips the 

 feathers that are fully ripe. Great care is exercised at this time, as a pre- 

 mature cutting of the feathers deteriorates the succeeding feather growth. 



There is no possibility of inflicting pain in plucking an Ostrich ; not a 

 <lrop of blood is drawn, nor a nerve touched. The large feathers are cut 

 off, and in two months' time, when the quill is dried up, it is pulled out. 

 By taking the feathers in this way it causes the bird absolutely no pain at 

 all. An Ostrich is first plucked when it is nine months old ; then it is about 

 six feet high. This crop of feathers is of little value; succeeding crops are 

 taken every nine months, the third plucking being the full crop, which will 

 weigh about one pound. Ostriches mate at four years of age and remain 

 paired for life. The nest, which is simply a hole in the ground scooped out 

 by the breastbone of the bird, is about one foot deep by three or four feet 

 in diameter. Eggs are laid every other day until twelve or fourteen are de- 

 posited, each of which weighs from three to four pounds. The eggs are 

 turned daily in the nest by the birds, and are incubated forty-two days, the 

 male taking the nest at five in the afternoon, where he remains on duty 

 until nine the following morning, when the female goes on duty. The 

 chicks, when hatched, are about the size of a domestic hen and present a 

 mottled appearance. They grow about one foot in height every month 

 until they attain full growth, about seven to eight feet, when they will 

 weigh from three to four hundred pounds. When fourteen months old the 

 plumage gradually changes, the female taking on a dull gray and the male 

 a glossy black, both growing long white wing -feathers. 



For a history of the Ostrich, read Vogel Ost-Afrikas of Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub. 



