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The Horrors of the Plume Trade 



flying with food in their bills to feed their own young, and it was a pitiful sight 

 indeed to see these starvelings with outstretched necks and gaping bills implor- 

 ing the passing birds to feed them. What a sickening sight! How mv heart 

 ached for them! How could any one but a cold-blooded, callous monster destroy 

 in this wholesale manner such beautiful birds, — the embodiment of all that is 

 pure, graceful and good? 



'■ In one tree at the Heronry the nests of the Plumed Egret (Mesophoyx plumi- 

 jera) and Egret (Herodias timoriensis) were seen. In another large tree a photo 

 was taken of two young Plumed Egrets and one young Large Egret together in 

 the same nest. These three birds were the sole survivors of several broods of 

 both species which had nested together in the same tree. Thev had evidently 

 sought one another's company, because all the balance of the nestlings had 

 expired through lack of nourishment, their parents having been shot by the 

 plume-hunters, or, rather, 'plume-plunderers.'" 



A like gruesome story is given by Mr. William L. Finley, Northwest Field 

 Agent of the National Association of Audubon Societies, after he had explored 

 the region about Lake Malheur, Oregon, where formerl\- thousands of WTiite 

 Herons bred, but now none are to be found, — all absolutely exterminated by 

 plume-hunters. 



Every aigrette we see, whether adorning (spare the mark) a woman's head, 

 or for sale in the shops, has been torn from the body of a dead Heron. This 

 vandalism will not cease while the reward of gold lasts, unless the heart of fashion 

 changes or drastic laws are enacted forbidding the sale of Herons' plumes irre- 

 spective of from what part of the world the plumes are taken. 



This unholy trade must be stamped out. 



AWAITING THE END— TOO WEAK TO STAND OR CRY FOR FOOD- 

 DEATH WILL BE A HAPPY RELEASE 

 Phoiugraphed by A. H. E. Mattingley 



