Bisbee daily review., 1911-09-07


  i from the bird in perfect condition for the hat The plumes" of my lady's hat are made from, say, three big wing feathers, two good tail feath- CTS. and some odds and ends. Such a
 plume can be made at the farm for SIP to s15 at a good prott-while un- der the present system they cost from $50 to S75 each. In London the teath- CTS are auctioned of in the open mar ket If one of the birds find a wet spot and "wallows" the feathers are practically ruined, as the mud and water takes of the fun of the feather and renders it friable; but the dealers use them in making up plumes, etc. Some of the feathers, pure white, black, gray or with blends of all, are 1 magnificent as they are plucked. In taking the feathers great care is eX- ercised, especially in pulling them from the tail, and from the two lesser rows of the wing. The trade talk on feathers is not an extensive vocab- ulary. The best whites are primes" and from this grade to firsts, seconds, thirds and culls. The '-femines' (fe- male) whites are the best. The first pluckings are called spadones- Tail feathers are 'boos' Black and white blends are ''biox." Drabs are hen feathers. Blacks are roosters. There are the regular blacks, whites, drabs. The floss feathers are used for mak
 ing up boas and other neck orna- ments. Feathers are sorted and graded to width. length, fineness, and tied in bundles of from one-half to five pounds each.
 The chicks peep" much like tur- key, but the sound is deeper throat ed. The grown birds have trumpet like call, somewhat similar to that Of the lion. It is usually uttered as a challenge to combat, though some times when they are scared. The raising of the chicks is rather trying, for they must have great attention
 until they are several weeks old; | they must be protected from rains, from heavy winds, from every kind of animal, and from fright. It is said that the ostrich has practically no
 sense" but all its actions are in- stinctiye, and thus they frighten cas- fly, this being the principal cause of loss. small dog will easily stam- pede a whole troop or band, but a | large dog makes the birds angry and ] they fight it. A rat scares them absolutely witless. In a fright the 1 birds stampede, losing all idea of the ] proper thing to do. As the stampedes
 usually occur at night, they run into ] fences and get torn and maimed, l sometimes so badly that they must be | killed. The ostrich is a curious bird, and if ono enters an enclosure where \ there are numbers of them he will be | literally picked to pieces" Every i bright object on the clothing the | birds will pick at and try to eat, | often succeeding in removing a button or something Of that sort; and many | instances are known of birds getting and swallowing jewelry, though there | is but one case on record where a
 soft felt hat was taken from a young
 mans head and gulped down. The 1 head of the ostrich is small, it's eyes | large. the latter being clear and far | sighted. On their native heath the
 ostrich eonsorts much with the zebra. | The latter has a most keen sense of ] hearing, and thus, with the abnormal i sight of the bird, both species are I protected. The yoraciousness of the | ostrich is proverbial; and at the Pick I rell farm one of the big males got into a ludicrous situation because of I this. Within the enclosure where T this bird was is a corn crib. filled
 with corn on the ear. One day the
 small door was left open by an em- ! ploye, and soon the ostrich discovered
 It. By much maneuvering he man. !. aged to get into the crib and began
 to gorge. "A belly full" was insufh- l cient, and he ate on until his neck I was full to the very bill. He ate it I cob and all, the cobs going down 1 lengthwise. So, when he wanted to
 leave the crib and enjoy digesting the | meal, he couldn't bend his neck to ! get out the door. He tried in every | possible way, but the neck full of corn cobs wouldn't bend, and he stormed I about the crib quite ferociously until the men were compelled to knock out lot of the slats of which the crib
 was made and permit him to emerge. I The ostrich will eat anything it can
 swallow. When building fences one
 mans duty Is to carefully go over the ] ground traversed by the builders and
 pick up all staples that have been
 dropped. as well as nails and wire
 ends, else the birds would swallow T them and come to grief. One bird ro0orf1xr r-sII.d cr,. fha pau-A Aunarf.