3 
A single experience will indicate the nature of the results which 
may be expected. Among a score of chicks were four individuals two or 
three weeks younger than the rest. All being artificially fed together, 
the smaller chicks were at a disadvantage throughout, and failed to make 
the same progress as the others. Yet their spadonas ripened a week or 
two in advance of those of the other chicks, but were much smaller both 
in length and in breadth; in fact, among the chicks as a whole, the 
longer larger plumes were the last to ripen. The blood receded from the. 
pith of the feather more quickly in the somewhat impoverished chicks 
than in the individuals which were highly nourished, and in the former 
the spadonas were short, while in the latter they were long. ; 
An isolated experiment of this kind does not prove much; but if 
the interpretation placed upon it be correct, it is manifest that the matter 
is one well worthy of enquiry. It will emphasise the great need, now 
generally recognised, that birds should be kept in a high nutritive state 
if it is desired to produce large superior feathers. The present note is 
written with the purpose of eliciting from ostrich farmers their experience 
of the length of time required for the growth of long feathers, as com- 
pared with the time necessary for the growth of short feathers. Most 
farmers keep written records of their various operations with birds—times 
of clipping, quilling, etc.—and it should be an easy matter to furnish such 
data as would be of great value in the solution of the problem. 
It can be easily understood where a bird is in a high condition of 
nutrition that a rich and full supply of blood is distributed to the grow- 
ing feathers. In such cases the rich blood supply may recede more slowly 
from the middle pith or medulla of the feather than where a bird is 
impoverished or even in crdinary condition. The blood receding less 
quickly from the nutritive medulla will signify that the feather will con- 
tinue its growth for a longer period; in other words, the feather in a 
highly nourished bird may take longer to ripen, but will be increased in 
length. 
It should be mentioned that some ostrich farmers of high repute find 
their feathers are ready for clipping actually at six months, and are ready 
for quilling at eight months precisely ; but others again are just as certain 
that the times must be extended by two or three weeks, or even more. 
Something must be allowed for the fact that some farmers clip the plumes 
earlier than others; but allowing for this, there still seem to be differences 
in the time during which a feather will continue its growth. It is clear 
that authentic records from a large number of farmers, with notes as to 
the condition of the bird during the period, would be of great value in 
such an enquiry. The question can be stated in several ways: (a) Do 
long feathers require a longer period than short feathers in which to ripen? 
(6) If a bird is highly fed, do its feathers take a longer time to ripen, and 
thereby give a longer plume? (c) If a bird is impoverished, we know that 
its feathers are inferior, and at the same time do they ripen earlier? 
9 Dors AN INFERIOR FEATHER-PRODUCING SOCKET ‘EVER REGAIN ITS 
ORIGINAL Power? 
There is scarcely any more encouraging sight to an ostrich farmer 
than to find every plume in a wing fully and uniformly developed, and an 
absence of blanks or irregularities of any kind. But all farmers of ex- 
perience have noticed that in a crop of feathers from any bird, there are 
often odd plumes much smaller and inferior, mixed with those of full 
size. In arranging the clipping for sale, such plumes are generally stuck 
away in the middle, in the hope that they will not prejudice the value of 
the bunch as a whole. These odd inferior feathers are more likely to 
occur in old birds which have been carelessly treated than in young birds 
