Clipping the Ostriches 
Clipping the birds affords 
a scene of great interest. 
Such an event is advertised 
beforehand and is done in 
public. 
The magnificent plumes 
are seen in all their glory on 
the wings of some great bird 
as he proudly displays his 
finery; then you see him 
driven into an angle of the 
fence, a hood is slipped over 
his head, rendering him do- 
cile, and while one man 
holds him, another deftly 
clips the plumes close to the 
flesh. 
The operation is painless, 
there being no real “pluck- 
ing.” Every plume is cut. 
After this the visitor may 
follow the feathers through all the processes of washing, dye- 
ing, curling and making up. 
Having seen the eggs, the chicks and the grown birds, the 
visitor turns to the Factory, where the wonderful feather 
goods, for which the name Cawston is famous the world 
over, are prepared. This is the largest ostrich feather factory 
west of New York, and the most famous probably in the 
world. The Cawston Ostrich Feathers have been awarded 
prize medals at the expositions in Paris, Buffalo, Omaha, St. 
Louis, Portland and Jamestown in competition with the 
world’s manufacturers. We now turn to the handsome ex- 
hibition salesroom, where the most magnificent display of 
ostrich plumes is arranged. The stock in this room alone 
amounts to $50,000. A city salesroom is also maintained at 
No. 313 South Broadway, Los Angeles. 
The Cawston Ostrich Farm has no agents. 
Another large Cawston farm, composed of over 1000 birds, 
is maintained at San Jacinto, purely for breeding purposes. 
Here experiments are carried on in crossing the different 
Strains of ostriches imported by Mr. Cawston. 
Clipping the Beautiful Wing 
Feathers from a Male Ostrich 
10 
