The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-04-20


cares to try. Thus in catching them it is
always necessary carefully to avoid getting
in front of them, for they can only kick
straight forward.
When plucking Is to begin three men en-
ter the corral and approach the birds They
try to ges the one they wish to catch up into
a corner, but as the bird soon sees that his
best chance lies in keeping in the open, he
races down one side Of the corral and then
up the other, making it appear as though
it were an almost hopeless task to catch
him. His strides are enor nous, but his
great feet and the muscles of his
thighs are SO strong that he comes along
with an easy, springy gait, in which very
little is seen OF the foolish awkwardness
which is the first characteristic TO strike
strangers when they see the bird at rest.
After several quite vain attempts to
reach the bird as he runs past the quickest
of the men throws himself upon one
OF the huge wings, and the first time, per-
haps, finds himself sprawling on the ground
with handful of broken feathers to re-
ward him for his pains. Soon, however,
somebody is fortunate enough to get good
hold, and by the time he has been dragged
| half way round the Enclosure the other two
men also are to be seen firmly attached to
soDne part Of the b )dy or wings OF the bird
Then sack is rapidly produced from the
belt of one of the men, and slipped over the
neau anu long neck, at Jno lower en1 OF
which it is loosely tied. This gre lily facili-
tates matters, and it is now no very difficult
job to steer the strange looking creature
into corner of thecorral which has been
prepared for its reception. Here the fence
has been strengthened with strong deal
boards. and another heavy board is all ready
to be swung around in such way as to in
close the bird and his captors in a small
corner, in which no great amount of strug
CLING is possible.
The first bird plucked was an old male.
The young birds for the first two years Of
their life are all the same gray color,
which the females continue for their lives,
but the males, after they are two years old,
become very handsome They turn quite
| for the great white plumes, which adorn
their wings and tails. Only the wing and
tail feathers are pulled, the curly looking
| little tips on the breast which arouse the
| cupiditY of some Of the ladies being left I'M
| touched
The three men who have hold of the bird
force him up tight against the corner of the
| Enclosure, and the one of them who is doing
the plucking stands on the side away from
| the wing on W 1ich he is going to commence
operations. He raises the wing, and, draw
ing it toward him over the body
| of the bird, he selects the feathers
which he considers marketable, aud, grasp
ing them one by one firmly in his hand,
gives them a good hard pull and out they
| come-irst the great white plumes, then
the smaller whites, aud then the larger
blacks. 1t must be a somewhat painful
| operation for the bird, rs the feathers have
tight hold and the wing bleeds more or
| less at most points from which several
| feathers, adjoining one another, have been
| drawn. Every now and then renewed
struggle on the part Of the ostrich, and an
oil,
the sack which is over his head, bears wit
ness to his not relishing the situation.
As fast as the feathers are pulled, and this
| is done very quickly, they are handel over
the fence to a man standing close by with a
box. Then the ladies have their chance.
| The amount of discussion which is required
before the onlookers can decide which OF the
feathers is most worthy to be chosen to
remind them of the occasion is surprising.
First, nothing less than one of the great
white plumes at the end OF the wing is good
| enougl, and as these are selling to-day at
from 81 to 81, they are cheap enough. But
when looked at in the hand it is found
surprising fact-that the feathers do not
| grow curled and washed, and ready to be
worn on the hats, and presently a smaller
feather Of white and gray, prettily blended
Is espied falling into the K. These vary
| in price from Is cents to so cents, or, in
case of very fine ones, reach a dollar; but
| just as the purchase is on the point of compile
ton and the fair buyers hand is searching
among the small coins in lengthy purse
| for one of Just the right dimensions, shs be-
comes aware that her next neighbor has
secured quite pretty lit le feather for lC
cents; REALLY, quite good enough to keep as
| a memento." And SO the struggle ends
Meanwhile the two wings have been
plucked, and the tail, which produces feath
ers shorter than the best wing plumes, but
| much wider-such as are used for the best
tips. Then the sack is removed, and the
board which incloses the party having be On
swung back, the bird is set loose, a queer
notwithstanding monster, shorn Of his
glory, but probably in day or two much
more comfortable-in hot weather Mt any
| rate-for being freed from the burden Of
| his great heavy plumeS, Care has to be
taken again, as the sack is removed, that he
does not reward his tormentors with kick,
which, il we'll delivered, " uld easily break
a bone, but his inability to kick any way
except straight in front OF him makes it no
difficult matter.
Then the chase is renewed, and the royal
consort is, in her turn, Inundated by having
her proud head enveloped in the sack, and
the game goes on till all the birds which are
ready for plucking have been dealt with.
1t is very hard work on hot day, as not
only have great agility and considerable
courage and perseverance TO be displayed In
catching the birds, but even the holding
them in the corner while the plucking is
going on involves an almost continuous
struggle, more or less severe. The opera
ton takes perhaps about twenty minutes
for each bird after 1t has been caught. and
in this time some 200 or $50 feathers of
various sizes are pulled Each bird is
plucked twice a year, the plumes requiring
q growth of about seven months to reach
perfection. The feathers, il not retaied
on the premises or In Los Angeles stores,
are sold by weight. A short time ago they
went as low as $50 pound, but they are
now going up the wearing of ostrich feath-
ers in hats having again become fashion
able. A full grown bird will give rather
more than a pound Of feathers between his
two plucks but as they are voracious feed
ers there is not much profit to be made out
of keeping them when feathers are fetching
low prices. They are fed mainly on alfalfa,
supplemented by corn AID almost any vege-
table food that comes handy.
PASTORAL VENDETTA.
How War Ragged For Three Decades