File:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (17973272100).jpg

Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo17amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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O^Tincn FAL'ML\(1 JX SOl'TII AFh'ICA 375 feiaiiinu' in tlio chick, wlicii on sudden alarm it flops ()own with its lon^- neck and head prone on the ground, can l)i> regarded as the origin of the oppi-o- hriuni. In handling the hird. as during the operations of clipping and quilling, the eyes are hooded and its nervous restlessness is tlierehv overcome. Personal attachments and responsive- ness, such as are manifested by all domesticated animals toward those who care for them, are wholly lacking in the ostrich. A glimmering of distinction between the familiar and the unfa- miliar )ierson. and a feeble tendency to the formation of the simplest habits, such as coming at call to be fed or traveling more readily along fre- quented directions, represent practi- cally all the education of which the bird is capable. Attachment between mates, even after being camped together sea- son after season, seems nonexistent; and the regard and care of offspring have manifestations of only the sim- plest character. The success which has attended the domestication of the ostrich as a means of plumage supply has stimulated ihdught ill Sdulli Africa in llic dii-ec- tion of tlic (lonicst icnt ion of other ))hnnage bii-ds. It is held tliat just as one bird has liccn rcndcriMl amenable to farming practice, and done much to adorn the world, so others may be adapted according to tlieir own par- ticular instincts and needs. His own industry conducted on the highest hu- mane principles, the South African farmer has no synijiathy with the ruth- less destruction of wild hird life for millinery purposes, (lather, however, than follow a wholly repressive or pro- hibitive policy, he would incpiire if birds suitable for the purpose could not, as in the case of the ostrich, be brought to render legitimate service to the deco- rative needs of mankind. No personal adornment is so attractive as that of ))lumage; peoples of all lands and in all times have been held in sway by it—the ostrich plume has been transported from the native kraal even to the thrones of kings and queens; and, if secured under circumstances in har- mony with the highest humane consid- erations, a high service is rendered the aesthetic nature of man.
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