drab, noun

Origin:
Named for its dull grey-brown colour.
Ostrich-farming
A long feather from a hen ostrich, taken from the place where the wing joins the body. See also onderbaatjie. Also attributive.
c1881 A. Douglass Ostrich Farming 82The various heaps of blacks and drabs should be tied into bunches..the long blacks and drabs are better in small bunches.
c1881 A. Douglass Ostrich Farming 92 (fold-out)Black and drab, being the inner rows of the wing, the Black coming from the Male, the Drab from the Female.
1896 R. Wallace Farming Indust. of Cape Col. 235Drab, long, and medium were about 10s. per lb. lower.
1909 J.E. Duerden in Agric. Jrnl of Cape of G.H. XXXIV. 523Drabs..the covert rows in the hen..are always greyish, not black. They are classed as long, medium, and short.
1910 A.B. Lamont Rural Reader 144Two rows of blacks (in the cock) or drabs (in the hen) are also removed from the upper side of the wings, and some from the lower side or ‘onderbaatje’.
1968 F. Goldie Ostrich Country 64All her feathers were pure white with the exception of a row of drab feathers overlaying the upper portion of her wing feathers.
A long feather from a hen ostrich, taken from the place where the wing joins the body.
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