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than 100 million francs. It is equally certain that export will 

 not be prohibited from the countries whence the feathers 

 come." Referring to the prohibition of the export of plumage 

 from India, the writers say that it is to a large extent nuga- 

 tory on account of the ease with which egret can be smugled. 

 "Thus the birds are being slowly but surely exterminated," 

 say the writers, "while the traders and protectionists are 

 fighting one another. This is coming to pass in spite of the 

 fact that both sides are, or ought to be, anxious to prevent 

 the extermination of the birds." 



Harold Hamel Smith, editor of Tropical Life, prints a reply 

 he had sent to the correspondents above quoted. He states 

 that in an Anglo-tropical journal ''a. section specially devoted 

 to economic zoology is striving to show how important bird- 

 breeding industries can be established in tropical and other 

 centers, at mny of which the climatic conditions would allow 

 of their being carried on by English families. Such estab- 

 lishments could breed the different varieties of egrets, pheas- 

 ants, gabe birds, ducks, pea-fowl, and many ither birds, not 

 only to ship the plumes of varieties now known to ornitholo- 

 gists and the trade, but by careful and scientific cross-breed- 

 ing and 'Luther Burbanking' the birds, to evolve new colors 

 and effects, so as to feed our trade novelties at present un- 

 known, and so cuse the fashions to change for more often than 

 they have done of late, thereby giving each particular strain 

 time to recover. Many of these crosses would probably not 

 breed ; so far from reducing the birds, the trade would alone 

 be the means of increasing the numbers and varieties. I am 

 told some striking eft'ects have already been obtained by cross- 

 ing Javanese and Indian pea-fowl, as can be seen in the sec- 

 tion devoted to hybrid at the Natural History Museum, South 

 Kensington ; also by .such crosses as the Golden and Lady Am- 

 Tierst pheasants. In this case the hybrid, being fertile, can be 

 propagated to any extent, instead of having to be rebred each 

 time. 



"At the end of Sci)tember I went specially over to Paris to make 

 inquiries into the matter, and, with M. Amedee, son of the founder 

 of the Remic Britaiiniqiic, visited the Jardin d'Acclimatation to 

 see the birds and animals there and to discuss the subject of cross- 

 breeding birds. Of the animals, I was principally concerned with 

 the guanaco, llama, and vicunas, some of which seem likely to be- 

 come dangerously scarce unless prompt attention be given to 

 ^thcir preservation, in which case I believe important industries 

 could be established. Since my return I have written an article 

 on the guanaco, which is shortly to be i)ublished. I wonder how 

 many of the opponents of the bird-millinery trade have troul)le(l 

 themselves about this animal. 



"With what I have learnt in Paris and Loiukjn, coupled with 



