quite
insensible to the operation. The stumps that are left in the flesh of
the ostrich fall out in the course of a month or six weeks, or can be
easily drawn out, and then a new and good feather grows in place of the
old one. The reason why plucking still finds advocates is that the
feathers with the entire quill bring a higher price in the market than
those that have been cut or nipped.

Harry and Ned watched with much interest the process of removing
feathers from the birds. Here is the way Harry describes it.

"The men moved around among the ostriches in a perfectly easy way, and
seemed to be on the best of terms with their charges. The foreman
selected a bird and indicated to one of the men that he wanted it
brought forward. Thereupon the man seized the bird by the neck and
pressed its head downward until he could draw a sack like a long and
very large stocking over it.

"When blindfolded in this way the ostrich is perfectly helpless, and
will stand perfectly still. The man pushed and led the bird up to the
fence, and then the foreman, armed with his cutting nippers, selected
the feathers that he wanted and cut them off. When the operation was
ended the sack was removed, and the ostrich resumed his place among his
companions. He did not strike, or kick, or indicate in any way that he
was aware of what had happened to him.

"During their breeding time the male ostriches are decidedly vicious,
and it is dangerous to go near them. Mr. Shaffner told us that several
serious accidents had happened to his men at such times. Occasionally a
bird shows more or less ugliness on being driven into a kraal, and when
this is the case caution must be used in approaching him. The ostrich's
favorite mode of fighting is to strike or kick with one leg, and he can
give a terrible blow in this way.

"I asked Mr. Shaffner," said Harry, "what was the value of a good
ostrich. He replied that the question was one he could not answer in a
single phrase. He said that an egg was worth not less than five dollars,
and an ostrich chick, fresh from the egg, was worth twenty-five dollars.

"After a few months it was double that value, and by the time it was a
year old it was worth two hundred and fifty dollars. Mr. Shaffner said
he would be unwilling to sell a pair of hens and a male ostrich for less
than two thousand dollars, but he explained that a great deal depended
upon the breeding and feather-producing qualities of the birds.

"Then,