THE OSTBICH. 99 



chicks begin to moult their youthful plumage of narrow pointed 

 feathers, and gradually acquire those of the adult bird, possessing 

 them in their entirety, at the latest, when about four years old. 

 Up to the time when the change begins, the sexes are not distin- 

 guishable ; but after the moult the cocks acquire a black and the 

 hens a drab plumage, which differs from that of a big chick not 

 so much in colour as in the shape and quality of the feathers. The 

 cocks do not change abruptly from their youthful drab to adult 

 black, but pass through what is generally designated by the 

 Dutch word, the " bont " (variegated) stage. Black, brown, and 

 drab feathers are indiscriminately mingled all over the body, the 

 plumes and tails being black-and-white. The same stage is gone 

 through by the hens, but is not nearly so conspicuous, the 

 difference in the colour of the feathers being less marked. At 

 about four years all have their adult plumage ; but both among 

 cocks and hens there is a great diversity in colour in different 

 individuals and in different parts of the country. In all cocks 

 the plumes (" whites ") are white, but in hens these feathers 

 ("feminas") vary from white to drab. The "tails" corre- 

 spond in colour with the "whites" and "feminas," respectively. 

 In both sexes, variations in body-colour are most conspicuous. 

 Some cocks are a glittering jet-black, while others are a rusty- 

 brown ; a few have odd white feathers clotted about the body ; 

 occasionally the secondary wing-feathers are white, or often fringed 

 with white ; and I knew of one which was thickly flecked with 

 white over the whole body. In some cocks all the feathers, 

 "whites" excepted, are beautifully curled, almost as though 

 artificially ; while in others they have not the slightest indication 

 of curl. These individual variations are in some cases accentu- 

 ated by differences of climate. Towards the coast the rusty- 

 brown tint (more pronounced than up-country) is often found, 

 while the glittering jet-black, so characteristic of Karroo birds, " 

 is comparatively uncommon. On the authority of an Ostrich 

 farmer of great experience, who has hundreds of birds on both 

 Karroo and coast farms, Karroo birds produce, on the whole, the 

 best "blacks," coast birds the best " whites." The first essentiality 

 of black feathers is that they shall be glittering and glossy, and 

 this condition the dry air of the Karroo seems to favour ; a white 

 feather must, other characteristics being equal, be soft, with a limp 



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