The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-04-12

branch OF the one at tialvcSton. y
few years ago these cntcrprislng men
gathered and bought lifty-two young
birds in Africa They chartered a
vessel and lanic'i thirty nine of them
safely IN Galveston. The others died.
Last .a.l Mr. Pearson. who is Mis-
>i-irrian. brought over here number
of adult birds an'l also a pair Of those
tla, came from Africa. He has here
now about thirty which are grown and
married and has number Of chick :
from two days to four months old.
There is a large inclosurc where the
males and females Of luarriagcablc
ages are turned ~ and kept until the
male makes his choice. The female
acluic>crs without any cuuurtry. This
pair are then transferred t" Il smaller
inclo>urc. where the male at once
begins the process nf subjugation.
lie treats her most slianrfully-
strikes her bites her purSucs her and
gi,c- the poor thing no rest. saw
him at it, and wanted to take big
stick and maui him. Complete sub
iuration is his anmus and after he
gets that and she humllcs herself to
the ground and pleads for mercy his
who'll manner i changed. He takes
her To wife and treats her with the
greatest consideration and Kindness
tIi,. rest Of their married life
Very many Of these bird, have
mated. and every pair has separate
inclosure, say about I,xl0U feet.
where they raise their young. The
hen lays from twelve to twenty eggs
lay them ou the ground in Il saucer
like place, where the sand has been
>coopcd out The eggs are in full
view and have no protection. When
the Litter is all laid the male bird be-
gins the incubation and sets upon
them every day from I y. III. until q
o'clock next morning The female
then promptly takes her place and
sets from ? Il. III. until I p. m, but
always takes few minutes off about
noon to partakc Of her dinner. which
tho keeper provides. and consists of
chopped cabbage and clover hay and
small stones ant, oyster shells for
got to mention that the hen lays an
egg every other day and the time Of
incubation is forty days. My son,
who was with me, remarked to the old
Englishmnn that our common hens
laid an egg every day and on Sunday
ticy laid two. ''ls that so, said he.
IL was not aware Of that 1t is in
deed very wonderful, and how does
che hen know when Sunday comcs?"
oh. said my son, they hear the
church bells ring.
Wonderful, wonderful, said the
old man with the simplest crcdulty
So devoted is the male bird to his
first love. his iinanccc, that he cannot
by force or persuasion be induced to
take another. We saw poor. miscr-
able. laccratcd hen in hospital quar-
tcrs. She had al the skin torn from
her breast and Mr. Pearson said the
keeper made mistake when he trans
fcrrcd pair and placed the wrong
female in the inclosurc and the male
tried to kill her Immediately and liked
to have succeeded She was not his
bride and he knew it.
AS soon as the chicks break the
eggs and come forth they eat nothing
for two or three days. The mother
takes them UP gently with her bill and
warns them under her wings or how
crs over them in the sand. suppose
chat is where the expression came
FROM under the shadow Of thy
wings | saw but one new born
chick. 1t was only two days old
There were quito number Of half
grown iir.ls and they are ungraccful,
un>ccmly and almost hidcous. In
deed, the adult birds arc not much
better after their plumcs have been
pulled out. Every nine months they
have to submit to this degradation, for
the rlumcs bring in the revenue.
Each male bird gives but twelve black
plumrs at picking and these are
worth from 81 to - each They are
cXuuisitcly beautiful aud if had been
rich | would have purchased pair
for my bride. The females are light
color Of brown and white and furnish
from sixty to one hundred plumcs in
season. but they do not bring half
so much.
MIR. Pearson says that ostrichcs we'll
kept live to be scvcnty-fivc years old
and it does not cost much to keep
thcm-not half as much as it does to