Bird Notes and News 



83 



one land was pillaged another could be 

 exploited, and when one specimen of 

 bird was made scarce another could be 

 declared " fashionable " — is to be thanked 

 for the establishment of ostrich farms and 

 has " protected " the Egret and the Rhea 

 and the Bird-of-paradise ! 



These paradoxes are cited here, not as 



arguments on the scientific or humani- 

 tarian side of the question, but as examples 

 of the curious moral obliquity which 

 appears to beset the whole business, and 

 which is probably without a parallel in 

 the history of commerce. It is one of the 

 items to be set down in man's account 

 with the trade. 



The Plume-Trade. 



The attention of the Royal Society for 

 the Protection of Birds has been called 

 to a letter, enclosing certain " Objects " 

 and " Resolutions " issued in the name 

 of a newly-constituted body calling itself 

 ** The Committee for the Economic 

 Preservation of Birds." At first glance 

 these " objects " msbj appear to consist 

 merely of extremely vague and sketchy 

 ideas as to the protection and domestica- 

 tion of wild birds ; but httle penetration 

 is needed to discover that the vague 

 verbiage covers a new effort of the 

 feather-trade to postpone or block 

 legislation. 



The committee is said to be composed 

 of naturalists and representatives of 

 the trade. The objects are to " unite 

 for practical purposes all those interested 

 in the world's avifaima ; " to " obtain 

 rehable evidence " as to existing con- 

 ditions of bird-life ; to consider and 

 suggest " to those interested " the best 

 means of protecting and maintaining 

 " all useful species, including those used 

 in the feather-trade " (no reference 

 being made to the trade's previous 

 unpleasant history in this connexion). 

 These objects are further explained by 

 one of the secretaries of the Committee, 

 Mr. S. L. Bensusan, in a newspaper 

 article, where he argues that " to turn 

 birds to economic use " is justifiable, 

 while to " preserve all species against 



extinction or reduction to danger point 

 is the duty of our legislators." This 

 division of duty is one usually advocated 

 by the trade, the wliile they use their 

 utmost endeavours to prevent legisla- 

 tion. " To accomplish both ends " he 

 advocates estabhshment of reservations, 

 and commends the Audubon Societies 

 for their work in this direction — work 

 necessitated by the raids of the plume- 

 hunter, against whom, armed wardens 

 have still to contend. He dwells on 

 the scientific value of experiments in 

 domestication, with the inference that 

 what the Audubon reserves have done 

 to preserve Herons aHve, trade reserves 

 might do to provide Herons for " economic 

 use ; " and with an easy assurance that 

 the species wanted by the trade might 

 be reared in Britain, or at any rate in 

 France, if only legislation against the 

 destruction and use of the wild birds 

 is deferred untU these interesting 

 experiments provide a few hundred 

 thousand birds a year for the saleroom. 

 Mr. Bensusan omits to say why his 

 scientific friends have delayed this scheme 

 until his commercial friends have ren- 

 dered Parhamentary interference im- 

 perative, or why it should be suffered 

 to impede legislation. 



Following the " objects " of the 

 committee come certain conditions to 

 which all members must agree. They 



