10 



from abroad." But he adds, further, that any legislation rather 

 than none, as the thin end of the wedge, is to be welcomed. In 

 reply to Sir Harry, Mr. H. 0. Forbes, as a British ornithologist 

 interested in the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, agrees 

 that the Bill does not go far enough, but he considers that the 

 weakness in the Bill pointed out by Sir Harry, can be eliminated 

 by making the wearing of wild birds' feathers in England by Bri- 

 tish subjects, as illegal as the importation of feathers ("Nature," 

 December 25th, p. 476). Mr. Forbes continues: "The real object 

 desired by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is the 

 prevention of the great cruelty for which the plumage trade is 

 responsible, of the extermination, and of the reduction, towards 

 that point, of the beautiful and beneficient fauna of the world." 

 The international attitude towards the principle of the Bill is thus 

 referred to in "Nature" for January 29th, 1914 (p. 617) : "The 

 United States Government has made the importation of birds' 

 plumage penal, as well as prohibited the wearing of feathers. 

 Austria and Germany are in accord with England as to the neces- 

 sity of putting a stop to this nefarious traffic by similar laws. 

 France and Belgium stand on the other side, for the plumassiers 

 are so influential that it is hopeless for the Government of either 

 of these countries even to propose such a protective Bill." Lastly, 

 in "Nature" for February 5th (p. 639) will be found a very grati- 

 fying message, cabled to the Zoological Society of London, by the 

 Zoological Society of New York, on the occasion of the Annual 

 Meeting. The hope is expressed that unanimous support will be 

 given to the Hobhouse Bill, which is designed to reinforce the pro- 

 tective measures passed by Congress. The message continues — 

 "The effect of the American Bill has been instantaneous and wide- 

 spread, and is now receiving unanimous support all over the 

 United States. The very passage and enforcement of the Bill has 

 created a sentiment for wild-life protection in many quarters 

 where it did not exist before. The millinery trade has adapted 

 itself to the new conditions, and the law is acknowledged to be most 

 beneficial in its results.'' In conclusion, we have still to remember 

 that the Hobhouse Bill provides for only one phase of the complex 



