4 
xr is dormant. In most cases the germ is only dormant, and its activity 
is restored on the return of favourable conditions. | When a bird is quilled 
at an unfavourable time, the few new feathers which appear are probably 
from sockets in which the feather-germ had not become quite dormant, 
while where blanks oceur the feather-germ was dormant and has not 
awakened to activity. Hence, speaking generally, there is a greater risk 
in the production of blanks from over-ripe quills than from quills under- 
ripe, and one must make certain that all the other conditions are fayour- 
able for beginning a new crop before drawing over-ripe quills. 
EXTERNAL INDICATIONS AS TO THE CoNnDITION OF A Birp FAVOURABLE FOR 
QUILLING. 
It would be a great boon to ostrich farmers if more were known with 
certainty of the outward appearances which indicate whether a bird is in 
a favourable condition or otherwise for starting a new crop of feathers. 
Most farmers are content to say that their birds are fat, and in apparently 
excellent condition, and yet results show there is something amiss, as a 
full crop does not appear. In Number V. of this series of articles, pub- 
lished in the March issue of the “ Agricultural Journal ’’ (1908), attention 
is directed to the scaliness of the skin as a helpful indication of the state 
of the bird, and experiences since that time but serve to confirm the 
opinions there expressed. It is fully established that in a general way a 
bird will start its best crop of feathers only at such times as the skin 
is clean and free from scurf, and therefore the condition of the surface 
may be taken as one of the most reliable indications we have as to the 
health of the bird. Before quilling, a farmer will do well to examine 
the naked part of the body under the wing; if this is smooth, clean, firm 
and healthy-looking, he may be assured that his feather birds are in ex- 
cellent condition, while if it is powdery and scaly, dry and flabby to the 
touch, they should be placed under better feeding conditions before quill- 
ing, or possibly an imperfect crop will result, and the birds may fail to 
preen properly such feathers as do appear. 
SEASON AND SEXUAL CONDITION oF THE BIRD. 
Many instances occur where even though a bird is apparently in ex- 
cellent condition, and the food supply is lavish, yet the crop is a failure. 
It would appear that many of these cases can be put down to the season 
of the year, and it is well established, at any rate in the Eastern Province 
of Cape Colony, that the winter period, say, from the middle of May 
io the middle of August, is an unfavourable time for the beginning of a 
new crop of feathers. Many conspicuous examples of this fact have cc- 
curred during the winter just past, when a drought of over four months 
was experienced. Several birds quilled during May or June were tem- 
porarily ruined; the full crop of feathers failed to appear, and even those 
which did shoot out were irregular and defective. The food supply may 
have been to blame in some instances, but the season and climatic con- 
ditions were undoubtedly unfavourable. In one very marked case a high 
grade cock, feeding upon an abundance of lucerne, sent out but a few 
inferior feathers after being quilled at the end of May. Among a troop 
of feather-birds, however, not all would suffer in the same way: perhaps 
half would give an imperfect crop, while the others would shoot out feathers 
from all the sockets: so that a certain amount of individuality is involved. 
In a previous article it has been shown that the sexual stage of the 
bird also has much influence upon its feather-producing capacity. Speaking 
generally, the best feathers are grown during the non-breeding season of 
