174 



Bird- Lore 



"To illustrate the comparatively small 

 number of dead feathers which are col- 

 lected, I will mention that in one year I 

 and my associates shipped to New York 

 eighty pounds of the plumes of the large 

 heron and twelve pounds of the little 

 curved plumes of the snowy heron. In 

 this whole lot there were not over five 

 pounds of plumes that had been gathered 

 from the ground — and these were of little 

 value." 



Mr. A. H. Meyer lives at Fort Wads- 

 worth, Staten Island, New York, and can 

 easily be seen or communicated with by 

 any one wishing to obtain further infor- 

 mation. 



The Heron Aigrettes used in the North 

 American trade today come largely from 

 foreign countries, where the plume hunters 

 went in quest of them after the birds had 

 nearly disappeared in the United States. 

 If we can preserve the small remnant 

 found in this country today, there is no 

 reason why they should not once more 

 become numerous, and be seen frequently 

 about the shores of the ponds and rivers 

 where they formerly occurred, even as far 

 north as New York state and beyond. 

 We know today of less than a dozen col- 

 onies, although there are doubtless some 

 others in the wilder recesses of the 

 southern swamps. 



Five Thousand Dollars Needed. 

 To save these birds, we need at once a 

 fund of $5,000, and the same amount 

 annually for at least two years to come. 

 With this fund, we will be able: 



1. To search out and locate the existing 

 colonies of these birds. 



2. To employ wardens to guard the 

 birds during the time of year when they 

 are engaged in constructing their nests 

 and caring for their young. 



3. To publish and distribute widely 

 throughout the United States, in circular 

 form, the real facts regarding the method 

 of collecting Heron Aigrettes, with a view 

 of discouraging the traffic in them. 



4. To conduct a vigorous legislative 

 campaign in those states which have not 

 yet passed laws prohibiting the sale of the 



feathers. We would also be in a position 

 to aid the local game protective authorities 

 in enforcing the law where merchants 

 attempt to evade its provisions. 



There are probably among the readers 

 of Bird-Lore a great many who may be 

 interested in contributing something to 

 this cause. 



A subscription list has been started and 

 during the past ten days the following 

 contributions have been received: 



A Friend of the Birds $500 00 



Linntean Society 200 00 



Mr. John Dryden Kuser 100 00 



Mr. Harry H. Benkard 84 00 



Mr. Edwin Gould 50 00 



Mr. Arthur Goadby 50 00 



Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin 25 00 



Mr. Maunsell S. Crosby 5 00 



Dr. W. H. Bergtold 5 00 



Misses S. E. and E. L. Clark 2 00 



W^m. B. Evans 2 co 



Miss Emily Belle Adams i 00 



Mr. Eliot Black welder i 00 



Mr. Wm. S. Essick i 00 



Mr. Thomas D. Keim i 00 



Mr. James P. Garrick, Jr i 00 



61,025 CO 



That action cannot be taken too quickly 

 is well illustrated by the following quo- 

 tation from a letter received from Warden 

 O. E. Baynard, who is today guarding the 

 Heron colony in Orange Lake, Florida. 

 Under date of April 24, he writes:' "I was 

 too late to do any good on the Oklawaha 

 river. That rookery of long whites 

 (American Egrets) are shot up to one pair 

 of birds. I had a man (unpaid) start to 

 looking after it, but he said he came home 

 one afternoon from Melaka from selling 

 his fish, and it sounded like four men with 

 double-barrel guns in there, and it sounded 

 like war. He went the ne.xt day and said 

 it was a sad sight." 



And thus it is that we witness the pass- 

 ing of the White Herons! Is it worth while 

 to save them? — T. G. P. 



Maine Legislation 



Mr. Arthur H. Norton, President of the 

 Maine Audubon Society, has been very 

 active, the past winter, in legislative work 



