30 



BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



peacock feathers pieced with those of other birds, 

 are to be labelled "smart." Fancy feathers are 

 obtained mainly from the thousands of brilliant 

 tropical birds offered at pitifully small prices at the 

 London auction-rooms— Tanagers, Orioles, Car- 

 dinals, Trogons, Humming-birds, etc. The Pea- 

 cock plumes are not, of course, obtained from the 

 few domesticated examples of this species, but 

 from the wild Peacocks which have been so splen- 

 did a feature of the bird-life in India, Burmah, and 

 other countries ; their great beauty lies in their 

 exquisitely blended hues, but they are now dyed 

 red or ereen or drab to ' ; match" the hat. 



There is some ground to hope that the feeling 

 against such things is growing steadily among the 

 well-dressed of all classes, and it is earnestly 

 hoped that every lady who is in sympathy with the 

 work of this Society will be on her guard against 

 all forms of bird-millinery, responsible as they are 

 for the destruction of harmless and beautiful 

 creatures in every part of the globe. Apart from 

 the question of humanity, is it nothing that the 

 women of the twentieth century should earn the 

 contempt and displeasure of succeeding ages, 

 and be stigmatized as Goths and Vandals, des- 

 troyers of the lovely and delicate living temples 

 of Nature. 



As it is believed that many women still remain 

 in ignorance of the facts concerning the plume 

 business, leaflets will be forwarded to any 

 ladies seen wearing ospreys or paradise plumes or 

 other bird-trimmings, if name and address are sent 

 by a Member or Associate to the Society's head- 

 office, 3, Hanover Square, W. Readers are also 

 asked to assist the cause by enclosing the Society's 

 leaflets in private letters, and by inducing their 

 friends to take the definite stand against "mur- 

 derous millinery " implied by enrolment in the 

 Society, thus giving and receiving the strength 

 found in union. 



" Home Life with Herbert Spencer, by Two," 

 recently published, shows that the eminent philo- 

 sopher and scientist had strong views on the 

 Osprey question : — 



" He condemned fervently the horrid fashion of 

 women wearing on their heads birds and the 

 plumage of birds, killed only for the sake of orna- 

 ment. Most especially did he denounce the 

 slaughter of the Egret, whose little dorsal plume 

 (well known to modistes as the Aigrette) is only 

 donned at breeding-time, so that the capture of 

 the parent-bird means the starvation of the young 

 in the nest. The shocking cruelty of this fashion 



is so notorious that it is a marvel any women can 

 openly proclaim her callousness to public opinion 

 and the suffering of young birds by wearing such 

 an ornament at all. How could women, he asked, 

 have the heart to wear such plumes ?" (P. 23.) 



In a lecture on Birds-of-Paradise at the 

 Plymouth Athenaeum on March 22, 1906, Mr. H. 

 Montagu Evans referred to the forecast of another 

 distinguished philosopher, Dr. A. R. Wallace, 

 F.R.S. He said : 



" Before leaving the subject, I cannot refrain 

 from referring to the sad fulfilment of Wallace's 

 prophecy fifty years ago, of what would surely 

 occur should civilised man ever bring intellectual 

 light into the virgin forests of those distant lands 

 in which lie spent five years of his life. Scientific 

 research has led to the death of thousands of the 

 beautiful birds we have been considering ; and 

 also of every other species sharing their homes. 

 It has also raised up numbers of explorers and 

 collectors in every part of the world. Death and 

 destruction enough has been and still is undertaken 

 in order to extend human knowledge, and also to 

 gratify human love of acquisition. But this is only 

 a small part of the mischief. Science is the 

 pioneer of trade. The buyers of stocks of 

 'plumes' (as the skins of hundreds of birds are 

 called) create a market by declaring them to be 

 'in fashion.' Civilized women are then seized with 

 a rage for wearing them. Plume-hunters appear 

 in tropical Asia, Africa, America, Australia, the 

 Malay Archipelago, and the remainder of the 

 Pacific Islands. The breeding-season is chosen 

 for the raids, regardless of every feeling worthy of 

 man. ... In this way many ot the most 

 beautiful birds in the world are being entirely 

 exterminated. . . . Strong- steps are being taken 

 to check this degrading traffic, but in many cases 

 prohibition has come too late. Well did Wallace 

 remark that in many things nations proud of their 

 civilisation have barely emerged from barbarism." 



PLUME SALE. 



At the August sale at the Commercial Sale Rooms, 

 there was a decline in the supply of "Osprey" 

 feathers, and a still greater decline in the demand, 

 mainly on account of the absence of American 

 trade. The quantity offered was 4296 ounces, 

 against 5443 ounces at the June sale ; prices were 

 lower. Birds-of-Paradise were also rather cheaper, 

 2098 light plumes, and 1850 various were offered. 

 "Vulture" quill feathers sold well; and there 

 was a large supply of Eagle, Hawk, Pelican, and 

 Albatross quills. Japanese Waxwings fetched id. 

 per skin ; East Indian Pheasants, fd. ; Bee-eaters, 

 |d. ; Crested Pigeons, is. 6d. ; Ibis wings, 6d. 



