170 



THE OOLOGIST. 



lies the high value of the feather crop. 

 Each ...wing, .in. -good condition, yields an 

 average of twenty-five long plumes, usually 

 pill e white; the tail yields several; and, in 

 addition, the wing also furnishes the " tips" 

 which make the milliner's pretty and 

 stylish trimmings. At from 3 }.± to 4 years 

 of age the ostriches get their growth and 

 are completely feathered; but their wiugs 

 are always frail. They are for ornament 

 rather than for use, and no ostrich is ever 

 able by its wing power to fly or even lift 

 itself off the ground. 



An ostrich is not a bird that one cares 

 to make much of a pet of; and it has the 

 advantage of being a fowl of value, that 

 even the most covetously-disposed will 

 manifest no disposition to steal. One kick 

 from that dangerous claw which, when the 

 bird runs on grass, carries a toe as sharp as 

 any needle, is usually sufficient to cause its 

 memory to linger in any would-be thief's 

 mind for a lifetime. Especially when the 

 lien is laying will the male develop vicious- 

 ness in an extraordinary degree, and it is 

 dangenras for even the herder to attempt to 

 cross their inclosure in near proximity to 

 the breeding couple's nest. 



A pair of the Orronado birds commenced 

 excavating a nest in the rear of a clump of 

 mahogany bushes very near the entrance 

 gate; but, finding this place too public, 

 they removed operations to the upper end. 

 of the inclosure, where they are now at 

 work and more screened from observation. 

 They are not so sheltered, however, that Ave 

 could not get sight of their basement-nest; 

 and a queer structure it must be when 

 completed. They dig it from the hardest 

 sand, the male using his claw until enough 

 loose earth is thrown up to be removed by 

 their flat bills, when they both fall to work 

 industriously. When perfected, the nest is 

 about eight feet across and three in depth, 

 and here the hen deposits an egg on each 

 alternate day, until a litter of some twenty 

 is laid. I inspected yesterday's egg, lifted 

 it, measured it, weighed it — but did not 

 bring it away ; it was too valuable for that. 

 I found it six inches long, about f oui teen 

 inches at its smaller circumference, and 

 weighing three pounds and nine ouuces. 

 What an omelet a fresh laid one would 

 make for a breakfast! 



The herder had a basket of eggs freshly 

 gathered, which he is storing to send to 

 Fallbrook, where they are hatched by in- 

 cubator. If the hen is allowed to incubate 

 her own eggs her setting season is six 

 weeks; and the male comes in for his share 

 of duty by setting at night. But it is not 

 profitable to put hens to hatching when the 

 incubatof can perform this work even 

 better than the mother, 



About the middle of December is the 

 bird's real moulting season, but a few feathers 

 are all the time being shed. There is a 

 mite that gives ostrich-breeders much 

 trouble, and from which it is impossible to 

 keep entirely free. Whenever feathers are 

 plucked it is necessary, on acconnt of this 

 insect, to let them lie exposed for two or 

 three days, when the mites die and can 

 easily be shaken away. 



If an ostrich becomes sick, which is but 

 seldom after their growth, there is little 

 that can be done, unless it is to give them 

 "salts;" but in case of accident— and they 

 are constantly receiving broken legs on their 

 own battle-field — a hospital is necessary, 

 and is provided in every camp. We saw 

 one poor fellow nursing his unfortunate 

 limb while we were there, but he looked 

 full of fight in spite of his probable pain, 

 and he roared like a young lion. 



Ostrich diet consists entirely of green 

 stuff and a little grain. Alfalfa, vegetables 

 of all descriptions, and corn are the staples. 

 The Corona do Beach Company supply one 

 hundred pounds a day of vegetable trim- 

 mings and waste truck from the big hotel 

 and the company 's gardens. There are always 

 cracked and withered and left-over green 

 things that are useless for the tables; and 

 these are served up as regular rations at 

 the camp ; but anything decayed the flat- 

 billed feeders despise. They' also require 

 chopped bones and pounded sea shells, as 

 chickens require gravel. It is found that 

 regularity in feeding, and a wholesome 

 supply of nutritious vegetable matter, will 

 greatly increase the feather product over 

 that of birds left to graze at will, as in 

 their own country. 



The care of herding is not great; their 

 wants are few. An inclosed park of sand, 

 where the sun strikes full for long hours 

 of the day, regularity of food, and occasion- 

 al water are about all that are necessary. 

 At night they sit on the sand wherever they 

 happen to be when the sun goes down, dis- 

 daining any kind of roost or shelter. Nor 

 will anything induce them to seek shelter 

 when it rains. They seem hardy, and, 

 when full grown, are not sensitive to 

 ordinary cold; although the air inland, 

 where it is uniformly dry, is preferable to 

 the damp air of the immediate coast, par- 

 ticularly in rearing young. For this reason 

 incubation at Fallbrook has proved sur- 

 prisingly successful, owing largely, no doubt 

 to the long duration of the sunny hours 

 each day, there being nothing to shut off 

 the full power of the sun's rays. 



No ostrich ever seems to get domesti- 

 cated. They are always timid, always 

 frightened at the least stir or sound, and 

 j'lfidy to lift their wi»g(s ritad scurry away 



