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One of the best known of the older birds, whose history is well 
authenticated, is the famous cock ‘“ Old Jack,’ owned by Mr. Hilton 
Barber, of Halesowen. The bird is now thirty-five years old, and the 
following details have been kindly supplied by Mr. Gray A. Barber. He 
was hatched as a chick from wild birds obtained from the Kuruman dis- 
trict, and has himself been breeding at Halesowen for thirty years, and still 
has two or three nests each season. As shown by the accompanying photo- 
graph his feathers are still good, very little depreciation having taken place 
all through the years. The custom has been to pluck him every ten or 
cleven months, though this has varied a little according to his nesting 
periods, his feathers being left untouched while sitting. It is encouraging 
to learn that the old bird is still very vigorous and active, and is at present 
sitting on a nest of eighteen eggs. 
Another celebrated bird, at least thirty-five years old, is owned by 
Mr. H. E. Moss, of Mosslands, near Grahamstown. The actual age of 
this bird seems a little uncertain, some asserting that they can trace his 
history for forty years, though there is no doubt whatever that he is at 
least thirty-five years old. Here again the bird is still capable of producing 
a fine crop of feathers, a plume being represented in the photograph. His 
last clipping of wing quills sold at the Grahamstown sales for £12 10s. per 
lb., and he has a nest each year. 
From these two instances it is manifest that the ostrich is a very 
long-lived bird. If well cared for a bird at thirty-five shows little evidence 
of diminution in his reproductive or other powers, and is capable of pro- 
ducing nearly as good a crop of feathers as at any earlier period. How 
much longer he will retain these powers can only be surmised, but it is 
obvious that careful records should be preserved of the fate of birds with 
long and well authenticated histories. The physiological activities of the 
ostrich are largely reflex, not cerebral, in character and, barring accidents 
and disease, we have no reason to expect that his vitality may not be 
continued greatly beyond that of the oldest. bird with which we are 
acquainted, 
The length of time which a bird will continue to produce a good crop 
of feathers is unquestionably dependent upon the management of the bird, 
especially ag concerns the frequency of clpping. We may assume that in a 
state of nature an ostrich, like most other birds, produces a new crop of 
feathers each year, and if under domestication we increase this, as is done 
under the eight or nine months system of quilling, we may reasonably ask 
whether the same quality of feathers will continue to be produced. Both 
Mr. Barber and Mr. Moss follow a nine or ten months system of quilling, 
and their clippings show little or no deterioration with age. Against this 
there is abundant evidence to prove that when birds are continually forced 
to produce a crop every eight months or less, deterioration sets in, the 
feathers becoming smaller and stalky. Something undoubtedly depends 
upon the feeding and individuality of the bird, but still the above may be 
taken as a general experience. . The farmer will-have to decide for himself 
whether he desires to get from his birds all they can produce in as short 
a time as possible, or whether he is content to allow them to do the best 
they can over a long period without deterioration. 
It may still be asked whether birds which have undergone deteriora- 
tion as a result of too frequent clippings will ever recover. Ostrich 
farmers generally assume that such 1s not the case; but this idea may 
possibly be founded upon imperfect evidence. We now know from, experi- 
mental evidence that odd feather germs recover their original power after 
producing an inferior feather, and it is yet to be proved how far *his will 
apply: to the crop as a whole, and how many times the quills may with 
