The Ostrich and Its Splendid Plumes
After our talk about the pigeon, with its swift powers of flight, we now come to a bird which has no power of flight at all, yet which is of much value to us from the splendid feathers of its wings. It would take strong wings indeed to lift from the ground the ostrich, the largest of all birds, standing six to eight feet high. But what it lacks in wings it makes up in legs, for it is a wonderful runner, being able to outrun the fastest horse. As it runs it spreads its wings, which seem to act as sails.
The ostrich has often been tamed and thus it may be classed with birds of the home, though much too large for the poultry yard. It grows quite friendly to those who have it in charge, but does not like strangers and is apt to attack them in a violent manner. As these birds are plentiful in the great Sahara desert, they were often kept by the Romans and used in their public shows. They were also used as food, and a glutton among the Roman emperors is said to have had the brains of a large number of ostriches served up to him in a single dish.
The people of Africa are very fond of ostrich eggs and travellers in that land also speak well of them. Each egg weighs about three pounds, so that one of them is equal to about two dozen hen’s eggs. The egg is cooked by being set on end in a fire and its contents stirred about with a stick thrust into a hole in the upper end. The shell is so thick and strong that it is used in Africa as a water vessel.
It is not for its brain or its eggs that the ostrich is kept in our days, but for its fine plumes. These bring such high prices that the birds are tamed and kept on what are called ostrich farms in order to get a good supply of those rare feathers. The first farms were started in South Africa in 1869, and they have since spread to other countries. The birds need warm regions, the only states fitted for them in this country being California and Florida.
The long, white, beautiful ostrich plumes so highly prized by ladies all over the world grow in the ends of the wings of the male birds. A good bird, in the prime of its life, will yield from twenty to forty of these, and also a few black feathers from the wings. The tail feathers are of much less beauty and value.
In the early days of the industry the feathers were worth $500 a pound and the plumes of one bird would sometimes bring $125. But they have now become so plentiful that the price has gone down to less than one-tenth of these figures.
To pluck the feathers, the bird is put in a box of such small size that it cannot kick. It does not enjoy the plucking, and a kick from its great leg is enough to break a man’s bones. We can understand its feelings, for the feathers used to be cruelly pulled out by the roots. Now they are cut, leaving the roots of the quills, which can be pulled out easily in a month or two. As for the use and beauty of these superb plumes we need only to view the hat of a lady which is adorned by one or more of them. The whole bird kingdom yields nothing more beautiful.