Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-01-07
CALIFORNIA OSTRICHES.
THE NEW AMERICAN INDUSTRY
THAT IS BEING DEVELOPED.

African Feathers Being Rapidly Driven
out of the Field by our own Product
How the birds Have Been Put To
the Front Ia This Country.
Ostrich farming is now one of the
profitable industries of the country,
there being in southern California
several large farms, those of Pasadc-
M, Norwalk and San Diego being par
ticularly noticeable. Here birds of
various ages, from the newly-hatched
chick to the full grown. may be seen.
The climate is particularly adapted TO
this bird, and the transplnnted indus
try may be said to be u perfect sue
cess.
The first birds were brought here
in 1885, an Euglishman securing fifty
two South African ostrichcs. Forty
two arrived in southern California in
good condition and formed tho basis
of oil future operations, their dcsccn-
dants today numbering over 300 Cali
fornia- born birds.
The Pasadena ostrich farm is tho
most convenient to the general pub
lie, and lies on the north side of tho
Arroyo Seco-the river, often dry in
summer, which forms the western
boundary to the city. Hero II largo
Enclosure is divided of into yards and
corrals, in which are found birds of
all ages, while in II small building are
exhibited the products of the farm.
Up To within few years all the os-
trich plumes worn were brought from
Africa, but now there is duty of -
per cent. on the plumes, and the
young American industry ia able to
compete. At the Pasadena farm the
feathers are to 10 had at cost. Here
one may purchase cape of feathers, il
one wishes, for twenty-five or thirty
dollars, or the plumes made into n
variety Of articles useful and orna-
mental, which are distributed all over
the country.
A flock of fifty or one hundred birds
presents most interesting aud singu-
lar appearance. They have iaunty,
1sbonnair mir as they approach the
mce, and when startled they rush
away with wings aud feathers erect,
presenting very peculiar appear.
ance.
The birds in Pasadena are kept in
small corrals, separated 10y II space of
five or six feet to, prevent them from
fighting. In this pastimo they strike
with their feet forward with force
often sufficient To kill n man or horse,
the long, sharp toe being n terrible
weapon. When the Pasadena atten-
dants pre- attacked they throw them
selves upon tho ground and lie flat,
escaping for the singular reason that
the birds cannot strike anything less
t.an three feet from the ground. The
old birds first attract the visitors Mt
.ention--a flock Of fifty, each stand
ing seven feet high aud weighing
about $50 pounds, their great, white,
bare thighs working, their rich plumes
falling gracefully from wing and tail.
They appear TO have unbounded curl
osity, coming up to the fences and
gazing ut the observers with their
mild eyes. In one pen sits II nesting
bird in the hot sun. The nest ~
tlfnply uelTesSlon III lu' holl' NhoH
the bird nests it deposits in all ten or
fifteen eggs, over which she distributes
little sand. From now on the two
birds devote themselves equally to the
Matching process. The male bird
takes his place at p. m. and seas I'M
ill nine in the morning; then the To-
male, who has been feeding and ex-
ercising, relieves him. The male also
relieves the female an hour in the
middle Of the day, that she may feed.
For forty days this regime is faith
fully followed, when an observer will
hear the tap-tap from the shells, and
soon they begin to break, aided blythe
|. female, aud the strange, wire-haired
young appear. They are Immediately
taken from the mother aud placed in
a brooder, and the female will soon
begin to lay again.
No feathers equal in beauty those
obtained from the wild ostrich, but
the California production meets the
demand so well that it would be diff
cult to distinguish them. Philadelphia
Timaa