"I was thinking," said Norah, "of the great number of these birds we see in the shops about Christmas time. What an immense quantity of feathers there must be.""Yes," said Fred, "and teacher says that, besides these, we bring in year after year shiploads of feathers from other countries.""Very little trouble is wanted to prepare them for use. All that is needed is to dry and beat them to remove dust, and then to bake them in an oven to kill the vermin in them.""Do you remember what teacher said about the eider down, Fred?" asked Will. "The down is got from the eider duck, Norah, a wild seabird that makes her nest on the rocks by the sea, and lines it with down from her own breast. In this nest she lays her eggs.
"Each day men go round and take away some of the down and some of the eggs. Each day the bird plucks more down from her breast and lays another egg, only to have the nest robbed again and again, till she has no more down to spare.
"This may seem cruel, but the bird is not fit for food, and as we want the down, it is better than slaughtering the birds to get it."SUMMARY