I70 



Bird- Lore 



millions of White Herons breeding in the 

 United States; today there is only a 

 pitiable remnant of the same, and, owing 

 to the high prices offered for the plumes 

 of these birds, makes it difficult and almost 

 impossible to preserve even the small 

 remnant remaining. 



The stock of these birds having been 

 exhausted in the United States, the 

 plume-hunters have followed the White 

 Herons to other parts of the world, and 

 in many locaHties these beautiful exam- 

 ples of bird life are on the verge of ex- 

 termination; this extermination is caused 

 solely by the millinery trade. 



The Birds of Paradise are another 

 example of this unholy traffic. The range 

 of these birds being so much more re- 

 stricted than that of the White Herons, 

 it will take a much shorter time to ex- 

 terminate them than it has the Herons. 

 Have the milliners of Paris, or London, 

 or Berlin, or New York, any right to de- 

 mand the privilege of selling the plumes 

 of so valuable and interesting a species 

 as the Bird of Paradise when they know 

 that they are on the verge of extermi- 

 nation? 



Among the large reservations establish- 

 ed by President Roosevelt was one 

 known as the Hawaiian Islands Reserva- 

 tion. Recently Japanese poachers sta- 

 tioned themselves upon these islands, and 

 before they were discovered by the 

 United States authorities, they had 

 destroyed over a quarter of a million 

 Albatrosses, simply that they might take 

 the wing quills for the millinery market, 

 and ship them to London, via Japan. Is 

 this right? Should not Japan aid the 

 United States in the preservation of her 

 birds by entering into an agreement to 

 that effect. 



The Americas have among their birds 

 those little gems of the air known as the 

 Hummingbird. Hundreds of thousands of 

 these birds have been destroyed for the 

 millinery trade, and have been sold at 

 the London feather sales. In the February, 

 1910, sale a large number of Ruby- 

 throated Hummingbirds were sold; these 

 birds are only found in eastern North 



America. From there they migrated to 

 northern South .America, where they 

 were killed and shipped to the London 

 markets. How can the Americans pro- 

 tect their Hummingbirds if they may be 

 killed in South America, and sold in 

 England for use wherever birds are used 

 for millinery ornaments? 



One need do no more than to examine 

 the schedules of bird skins offered for 

 sale at the London auction markets every 

 sixty days, to realize how important it is 

 that some drastic steps be taken to stop 

 this enormous drain on wild bird life: 

 Herons, Trogons, Hummingbirds, Tou- 

 cans, Macaws, Tanagers, Emus, Birds of 

 Paradise, Marabou Storks, Crowned 

 Pigeons, Cockatoos, Parrots, Rifle Birds, 

 Kingfishers, Pheasants, Albatrosses, 

 Hawks, Bitterns, Lyre Birds, Grebes, 

 Owls, Terns, Gulls, Bustards and Cuckoos 

 are some of the many species dealt in — 

 sacrificed at the behest of fashion. 



A suggestive item in all of the schedules 

 is "Various Birds." As the several species 

 that have been most dealt in in the past, 

 the gorgeously plumed birds, become 

 scarcer and consequently more expensive, 

 the milliners have other species sent them 

 to test the market, and should any of 

 them prove to be acceptable to fashion, 

 then that species will be raided also — so 

 much for the slaughter of birds for milli- 

 nery purposes. 



There are other vital reasons why 

 Europeans should take active steps for 

 an international agreement, and they are 

 that thousands of the insectivorous birds 

 of Europe are shipped to the United 

 States every year as cage birds. Do the 

 Europeans care so little for their song 

 birds that they are willing to permit 

 this cruel traffic? The Americans stopped 

 such export several years since, to the 

 great advantage of the country. 



There are also thousands of game birds, 

 such as migratory Quail, the Gray Par- 

 tridge, and the Lapwing, that are sent to 

 the American markets, for use in hotels 

 and fashionable restaurants. Are the 

 Europeans willing to have such birds 

 slaughtered, and shipped out of the 



