Ostrich feather

“ A young ostrich's rough, bristly, untidy-looking 'chicken feathers' are plucked for the first time when he is nine months old. They are stiff and narrow, with very pointed tips, and their ugly appearance gives no promise of future beauty. They do not look as if they could be used for anything but making feather brooms. In the second year they are rather more like what ostrich feathers ought to be, though still very narrow and pointed, and not until their wearer is plucked for the third time have they attained their full width and softness. ”

“ Millions of dollars are at the present time invested in ostrich feathers in all conditions, in the cases of raw stock in the ware-houses and in the flourishing ostrich farms now in existence; and a milliner's window without its rich clusters of ostrich tips and plumes would to-day be a rare sight. They are used not only in the trimming of hats and bonnets, but fashion demands their use in trimming dresses, wraps, etc., and to a large [3] extent they are being used in making handsome and very valuable fans. ”

“ A single ostrich feather, alone or stuck in a scroll, occurs after 1343 in several seals of Edward prince of Wales, and on his tomb at Canterbury the shield of his own arms alternates with his mother's black shield with three silver ostrich feathers, each transfixing a scroll with the word ich diene ”

“ The call for feather finery rings so loudly in the hearts of women that it will probably never cease to be heard, and it is the Ostrich—the big, ungainly yet graceful Ostrich—which must supply the demand for high-grade feathers of the future. ”

“ From that time down to the present, feathers of endless variety have continued to be leading articles of ornamentation in female head-attire; but, except for military plumes, they have long ceased to be worn in ordinary male costume. At the present day, the feathers of numerous birds are, in one way or another, turned to account by ladies for the purpose of personal ornament. Ostrich feathers, however, hold, as they have always held, a pre-eminent position among ornamental feathers; and the ostrich is the only bird which may be said to be reared exclusively for the sake of its feathers. ”

“ Are there no feathers that can be worn in hats without its doing any harm at all—without any bird being killed to get them? Why, yes, of course there are—and the very handsomest of them all—ostrich-feathers. Ostriches are kept on farms, and twice a year, their beautiful white and black feathers are clipped and sent to the market. So, as they are not killed, but kept alive and fed and taken care of, and have a very good time of it—as I can tell you that they do, for I have lived on an ostrich-farm—I do not see any reason why one should not wear their feathers—if one wants to. ”

“ One extra-refractory bird, when finally subdued, and helpless in the hands of the pluckers, avenges his wrongs upon the ostrich standing nearest to him in the crowd; and, for every feather pulled from his own tail, gives a savage nip to the head of his unoffending neighbour, a mild bird, who does not retaliate, but looks puzzled, his own turn not yet having come. It is amusing to watch the rapid retreat of each poor denuded creature when set free from his tormentors. ”

“ When a feather is nipped off with pincers or cut with a knife the bird is quite insensible to the operation. The stumps that are left in the flesh of the ostrich fall out in the course of a month or six weeks, or can be easily drawn out, and then a new and good feather grows in place of the old one. The reason why plucking still finds advocates is that the feathers with the entire quill bring a higher price in the market than those that have been cut or nipped.
Harry and Ned watched with much interest the process of removing feathers from the birds. ”

“ Ostrich farming is one of the established industries of South Africa, and is also practised in Kordofan and other semi-desert regions of North Africa, in Argentina, and in Arizona and California in North America. The feathers are generally plucked from the living animal—a process which does not appear to cause any great inconvenience. ”

“ But no parts of the ostrich are so valuable as the feathers of the wings and tail. These are divided into loose and silky filaments, and are most admired when plucked from the birds whilst alive. They are packed in bundles by the Arabs, who put them, large and small, good and bad, together for sale. In Europe they are used for female head-dresses; and for this purpose the shortest and lightest are most esteemed. The ostrich feathers that are imported into this country from the Cape of Good Hope are not considered so good as those which we receive from Barbary ”

“ None of them, however, are used in the condition as they are plucked from the body of the live or dead bird, but all must undergo a cleaning process, which not only serves to improve their appearance, but is an exceedingly essential requisite for the preservation of the material from decay and the attacks of moth and other insects, and is, above all, the first condition and indispensable preparatory operation for dyeing feathers, whether the costly feather of the ostrich or the common feather of our domestic chicken or pigeon. ”

“ The true ostrich is a native of Africa. All are flightless birds, and as the wing muscles are reduced there is no keel on the breastbone. The African ostrich has but two toes, the others three. The rheas and the emus may be dismissed with mere mention, the rheas furnishing the feathers used in feather dusters. The African ostriches furnish the well-known plumes and are bred for the purpose, the export of feathers from South Africa amounting to over five million dollars a year. There are now ostrich farms in South America, California, Arizona and Florida. ”

“ In the entire republic it is estimated that there are more than four hundred thousand ostriches. They will feed among the stock, but the agriculturist soon makes them disappear. These long-necked and long-legged birds form a very pretty addition to the landscape. The South American ostrich is smaller than the South African species, and its feathers are not nearly so valuable. They are extremely abundant, however, and bring in a pleasing revenue for the farmer. The feather gatherers bargain with the estanciero to pay him so much for each bird found and picked on his estancia. ”

“ As much of the beauty of ostrich feathers depends upon their graceful pliability, they generally require to be scraped with glass, to render them pliant; and the curly form so admired, is given by drawing the edge of a blunt knife over the filaments. They are then dyed. The process of dying black needs no preparation; but for receiving the other colors it is necessary that they should be bleached by exposure to the sun and dew; and a bleaching ground presents a very singular appearance, seeming for all the world as if it was bearing a luxuriant crop of feathers, ready to be mown ”

“ At all the three towns, Sockna, Hoon, and Wadan, it is the practice to keep tame ostriches in a stable, and in two years to take three cullings of the feathers.
Captain Lyon supposes that all the fine white ostrich feathers sent to Europe are from tame birds, the wild ones being in general so ragged and torn, that not above half a dozen perfect ones can be found. The black, being shorter and more flexible, are generally good. All the Arabs agree in stating, that the ostrich does not leave its eggs to be hatched by the heat of the sun. ”

“ Many other people like to wear ostrich plumes as well as Matty. So there is a large trade in them. The wild ostrich does not supply feathers enough for the market, so ostriches are now raised like turkeys and hens. This business is called “ostrich farming.” The ostriches are kept in large yards, and the plumes are taken out every year.
Aunt Sarah told all this to Matty. “And so,” said Matty, stroking the long white plume, “this feather has ridden on the back of an ostrich in Africa; I wish it could tell me what it has seen.”
SOMEBODY ELSE WHO LIKES EGGS.
WHO KILLED THE GOOSE? ”

“ Place in domestication. Commercially the ostrich is valuable only for its plume feathers. The extent of the development of ostrich culture depends upon the demand for ostrich feathers at prices that will warrant breeding ostriches to supply them. When the industry was first established in South Africa, ostrich feathers brought high prices and the business was very profitable; but so many farmers engaged in it, and the supply of feathers increased so rapidly that prices soon became much lower and have never since returned to the scale that prevailed at that time. ”

“ Yet he never let slip a chance of picking up a stray hair or feather, but gathered up each with care, wrapped it in its separate paper, on which was written its description, and deposited it in his tin collecting-box.
"You never know," he remarked, as we turned away from the ostrich enclosure, "when a specimen for comparison may be of vital importance. Here, for instance, is a small feather of a cassowary, and here the hair of a wapiti deer; now the recognition of either of those might, in certain circumstances, lead to the detection of a criminal or save the life of an innocent man. ”

“ The head, even in the hottest weather, is never protected by any covering, a fillet, into which a feather of the ostrich is stuck, being generally worn; and they seldom wear shoes, except on undertaking a long journey, when they condescend to use a rude substitute for them. The bodies of both sexes are tattooed; and the young men, like the fops of more civilized nations, paint their skins and curl their hair. Their arms are the javelin, a large shield of buffalo-hide, and a short club. ”

“ In this way are procured a very large proportion of the ostrich feathers which are sent to the European market, and the lady who admires the exquisite contour and beautiful proportions of a good ostrich plume has seldom any idea that it was procured by a little yellow man disguised in an ostrich skin, with bow and arrows in his hand, and his legs rubbed with chalk. ”

“ It is well known that the male alone furnishes the beautiful white feathers which have for so long a time been a favourite ornament in the head-dress of our European ladies. They are purchased from the people who collect them, for as high as three or four shillings each; they are, however, given at a lower price, in exchange for European wares and clothing. Almost all the colonists upon the borders have a little magazine of these feathers laid by, and when they would make a friendly present to a guest, it is generally an ostrich’s feather. ”

“ Visited a shop where there is a good collection of stuffed birds; bought a Butcher bird,—it catches its prey, sticks it upon a thorn, and devours it at leisure: small birds are one shilling each; but I know not if they are prepared with arsenical soap, like those to be purchased at Landowr. No good ostrich feathers were to be had at the Europe shops: there is a shop, kept by a Dutchwoman, near the landing-place, where the best—the uncleaned ostrich feathers—are sometimes to be bought ”

“ Mamoré ran very fast, and so did our horse, but the ostrich outran us with the ease of a steam-engine. While running, its awkward looking legs are thrown out on the sides in circles, so as to clear the long grass, but the body and head are carried remarkably steady. We have never seen ostrich feathers in the market of Trinidad, and believe the Indians never hunt them, though they play with them at times by disguising themselves in a tiger skin, and prowl about near them for amusement. Indians pay great deference to those birds, originally worshipped by them. ”

“ Of desert vegetation they seem to prefer a plant somewhat resembling a pumpkin, which creeps on the ground. On this they are fed chiefly at the ostrich farm, but, of course, an ostrich will eat almost anything, and I fancy their diet is not a matter needing much care and forethought. It is a curious fact that ostrich feathers are nearly as expensive in the French Soudan as they are in England. ”

“ Amongst other means which they use in betraying of these ostriches, they have a great and large plume of feathers, orderly compact together upon the end of a staff; in the fore-part bearing the likeness of the head, neck, and bulk of an ostrich, and in the hinder part spreading itself out very large, sufficient being holden before him to hide the most part of the body of a man. ”

“ The male ostriches will, on some occasions, give chase to the strange bird, when he tries to elude them in a way to prevent them catching his scent; for when once they do, the spell is broken. Should one happen to get too near in pursuit, he has only to run to windward or throw off his saddle to avoid a stroke from a wing which would lay him prostrate."
But the ostrich has other enemies besides man. Beasts as well as birds are said to seek and devour their eggs with great avidity. ”

“ The terrified creatures run hither and thither; and not managing their breath as they would do in an ordinary pursuit, they at length become exhausted, and betray it by flapping their wings. The sportsmen now fall deliberately upon them, and either lead them away alive, or fell them with a blow on the head. Their first care is to remove the skin, so as to preserve the feathers uninjured; the next is to melt down the fat, and pour it into bags formed of the skin of the thigh and leg, strongly tied at the lower end. The grease of an ostrich in good condition fills both its legs ”