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Bird - Lore 



ers on hand when the law went into effect on 

 October 3, 1913, — nearly eight jcars ago, — 

 has long ago been exhausted, and the plumes 

 we now see sold and worn are most certainly 

 feathers that have been smuggled. Inspec- 

 tors of the Custom Offices have made a large 

 number of seizures, and in these columns we 

 have from time to time reported the taking of 

 some of these illegal goods and the disposition 

 made of them. 



This Association planned to ask the pres- 

 ent session of Congress that is revising the 

 Tariff to amend the law in such a way as to 

 prohibit absolutely the sale of Paradise 

 plumes. Just before the date set by the 

 Chairman of the Ways and Means Commit- 

 tee for the President of the Association to 

 appear before the Congressmen having this 

 matter in charge, it was learned that the 

 United States Millinery Chamber of Com- 

 merce had a bill to propose, and after a con- 

 ference and much deliberation it was decided 

 to back their bill, and this was done, not only 

 formally before the Ways and Means Com- 

 mittee on February 11, 1921, but subse- 

 quently by other means. This bill makes it 

 illegal to sell the plumes of Birds-of-Paradise 

 or other smuggled feathers unless the seller 



can produce evidence to satisfy the courts 

 that the feathers were brought legally into 

 this country before the Tariff Act of 1913 

 became effective. This is now imder con- 

 sideration in Congress, and if it becomes 

 an item of the Federal statutes it will \-ir- 

 tually mean that the last battle of the war 

 waged by the Audubon Societies since 1886 

 against the legalized feather traffic shall 

 have been won. 



Of course, regardless of how stringent the 

 laws may be made, it is probable that feath- 

 ers for millinery decoration will continually 

 be smuggled into the country. Despite the 

 Association's warden-force, Egrets in the 

 southern swamps will continue to be killed 

 because of the high price that the plumes will 

 bring, and because there will persist a certain 

 type of feminine mind that will be glad to 

 possess and exhibit feathers too costly for 

 their neighbors to procure. 



The fight has been a long and hard one, 

 and a successful issue has been long deferred 

 for two reasons: one, man's lust for money, 

 and, second, woman's love for adornment, 

 and these two passions may be ranked as 

 among the strongest that govern the human 

 mind. 



NEW JERSEY BOBOLINK LAW PASSED 



On .\pril 8, there was successfully con- 

 summated a result for which the New Jersey 

 Audubon Society has been earnestly striving 

 for the last five or six years, when Governor 

 Edwards affixed his signature to Senate Bill 

 80, according to the Bobolink a place in the 

 list of song and insectivorous birds, with 

 permanent protection, and remoxdng from 

 the list of game-birds the name of 'Reed Bird.' 



Until almost the last moment, prospects 

 for the success of this measure were extremely 

 discouraging. The bill was introduced Jan- 

 uary 31, and was not reported from the Sen- 

 ate Committee on Game and Fisheries until 

 March 7, reaching a vote in the Senate on 

 March 16. It passed that House by an 

 affirmative vote of eleven, exactly the neces- 

 sary number, and with four oj^position votes, 

 one of which was cast by Senator Allen, 

 President of the Senate, who also spoke 

 against the bill. The bill was favorably re- 



ported by the Assembly Committee on Game 

 and Fisheries on March 30, despite a very 

 reliable pre\'ious statement to the effect that 

 it had been passed in the Senate, with the 

 distinct understanding that it was to be held 

 in the Assembly Committee on Game and 

 Fisheries. Under suspension of rules, it was 

 passed by the Assembly on the same date 

 that it was reported, by a vote of forty-two 

 to nothing, and was transmitted to the Gov- 

 ernor. While in his hands, it was discovered 

 that there was a legal error in the title, and it 

 was recalled by Senator Case, who introduced 

 it, amended and repassed in the Senate on 

 April 7, and in the Assembly on April 8, in 

 the very last minutes of the final day of the 

 session. 



This bill probably established a record for 

 measures of its character, in the considera- 

 tion that was accorded it in the last minutes 

 of the session, when it was amended and re- 



