^°|-^JI J Stray Feathers. 1 3 



Stray Feathers. 



The Feather Fashion. — It is discomforting to bird-lovers 

 to see bird feathers being used again so freely to decorate ladies' 

 hats. Whole plumages of small, bright birds are to be seen, and 

 even Lyre-Birds' tail feathers are worked up for the trade. 

 Society has surely forgotten the example of Queen Alexandra, 

 who, when the feather fashion took hold some years ago, refused 

 to wear any plumes that entailed the destruction of birds. Apart 

 from Ostrich and Cockerel feathers, all the ornaments required 

 by the fashion fad do mean the taking of life. The Audubon 

 Societies of the United States have produced some astounding 

 figures in reference to the number of birds ruthlessly slaughtered 

 for the market. Those who recognise the sound practical use of 

 birds in nature, apart from any aesthetic value, should openly 

 discountenance such unthinking and barbarous fashions. 



Eagles and Rats. — There have been very few Eagles 

 (Wedge-tailed) about here, but the overseer of a station farther 

 down the river (Flinders) told me they had been bad where he 

 was, which he attributed to a visitation of rats (a mild plague). 

 We had no rats at Spring Valley — never saw one. The Eagles 

 were very partial to them — every nest that he examined which 

 was occupied by a sitting bird or young was well supplied with 

 the rodents. He told me that he found between sixty and seventy 

 nests during the past winter with either eggs or young, and, on my 

 asking him how often he thought both youngsters in a nest 

 reached maturity, or at least an age able to fly, he said that 

 seldom both survived, but this year, owing, he thought, to the 

 superabundance of food (rats), tliere were decidedly more than 

 usual. Not only that, but he found this year what he never saw 

 before, and that was two nests with three eggs in and one nest 

 with three big, strong youngsters. — Fredc. L. Berney. Spring 

 Valley, Hughenden (N.Q.), 24/11/05. 



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Do Emus Migrate?— I am camped on the No. 2 rabbit- 

 proof fence, about 120 miles east of Perth. The Emus are 

 having a bad time of it here. They seem to migrate from east 

 to west. Later they travel back from west to east, as soon as 

 the dry season comes. When they strike the rabbit-proof fence 

 they hang on it in the corners until they die of thirst. The 

 boundary-rider on this section told me he could show me fifty 

 dead Emus between my camp and Cunderdin, a distance of 

 about six miles, and that on his length of 60 miles there are 

 about 300 dead ones. I put one mob of 30 birds through a 

 gate, but it is too risky to do this, as one is liable to get into 



