144 POPDLAR OFFICIAL GUIDE. 



The members of the Subclass Ratitae, — once called the 

 Cursores, or the "running birds," — are the present-day 

 giants of the avian world. We have reason to be glad that 

 all these splendid birds did not disappear from the earth 

 before ornithology took form as a science. Undoubtedly, 

 they mark the end of the line of birds of their kind, for the 

 far-reaching destructiveness of civilized man has already 

 put a period to the natural evolution of animal life. To-day, 

 the preservers of wild life are engaged in a hand-to-hand 

 struggle with the annihilators, over the preservation of a 

 remnant for those who come after us. 



The African Ostriches are now very prominently in the 

 public eye, not because of their relationship to the Dinornis 

 and Aepyornis of the past, but by reason of the value of 

 their plumes in enhancing the attractiveness of woman. 

 And surely, no plume-bearing bird ever enlisted in a better 

 cause, or on a more satisfactory basis ; for to-day the plume- 

 crop is being grown and plucked and marketed with almost 

 as much certainty as the annual crop of wool. In the 

 United States, the most important plume-prodiicing ostrich 

 farms are situated in southern California and Arizona, 

 where the industry is quite successful. So valuable are the 

 adult birds that it is possible to purchase specimens im- 

 ported from Africa for less money than would be necessary 

 to procure them in the United States. 



A full-grown male African Ostrich stands 8 feet in height, 

 and weighs about 300 pounds. Its value on arrival in New 

 York, before acclimatization and moulting into perfect plu- 

 mage, is from $200 to $250. The female lays about 90 eggs 

 in a year, each of which is equal to about 20 hen's eggs. 

 The time of incubation is about 40 days. In captivity only 

 about 60 per cent of the eggs hatch, and of those not more 

 than one-half live to attain full maturity. The plumage of 

 immature birds and adult females is gray, but that of the 

 adult male is black on the body, and white on the wings and 

 tail. 



The South African Ostrich, {Struthio australis), also called 

 the Somali Ostrich, differs from the species found in 

 the north. The color of the naked skin of its neck and 

 thighs, and the front scales on its metatarsus, is distinctly 

 bluish, and dark. This is the species of the southern half of 

 Africa, now so successfully "farmed" in Cape Colony for 

 its feathers that the annual crop is said to yield about 

 $5,000,000. And it is this species which is kept on the ostrich 

 farms of California and AJ-izona. 



