100 



Bird Notes and News 



1906. Efiforts made by the trade, without 

 success, to obtain the rescinding of 

 the Indian Order. 



1907. Mr. Walter Goodfellow calls attention, 

 at the British Ornithologists' Club, to 

 the practical extermination by plume- 

 hunters of species of the Bird-of- 

 paradise. 



1908. Bill to prohibit the Importation of 

 the Plumage of Wild Birds into 

 Great Britain drafted by the R.S.P.B., 

 udth the support of representatives 

 of the British Museum (Natural His- 

 tory), Royal Society, Linnean Society, 

 Zoological Society, Selbome Society, 

 and Mr. James Buckland. Introduced 

 into the House of Lords by Lord 

 Avebury. Considered by a Select 

 Committee, which heard evidence from 

 twenty-one witnesses for and against ; 

 and passed (July 21st) with strength- 

 ening amendments. Introduced into 

 the House of Commons by Lord 

 Robert Cecil, but end of the Session 

 prevented a second reading. 



Story of " moulted plumes " revived 

 by the trade, in a letter signed " Leon 

 Laglaize," purporting to give an 

 account of the protection of Egrets 

 in Venezuela by " a sort of armed 

 police composed by natives," and 

 the collection of shed plumes and 

 also of a " valuable amount of feathers 

 of the best kind " said to be worked 

 into the nests and obtained at the 

 end of the nesting-season. Refutation 

 from naturalists published by the 

 R.S.P.B., " Feathers are never used 

 for lining the nest " (Mr. G. T. Pearson 

 and others). " The letter of Mr. Leon 

 Laglaize gives a completely erroneous 



impression of the conditions under 

 which the collecting of plumes is 

 conducted in Venezuela " (Sir Vincent 

 Corbett, H.B.M. Minister at Caracas). 

 Exportation from British New Guinea 

 of skins and feathers of Birds-of- 

 paradise and Goura Pigeons pro- 

 hibited. 



1909. Bills to prohibit the importation of 

 the feathers of certain birds into 

 Great Britain introduced by Sir 

 William Anson and Mr. Ramsay 

 Macdonald. Blocked. 



Pictures of " The Story of the Egret" 

 published and exhibited in shop win- 

 dows and elsewhere by the R.S.P.B. 

 Anti - plumage League started in 

 Sydney (N.S.W.). 



1910. International Ornithological Congress, 

 held at Berlin, passes a resolution 

 affirming the necessity for laws pro- 

 hibiting the Importation of Plumage 

 into European countries : (" The de- 

 mand made on behalf of the bird- 

 world is this : that henceforth no 

 country shall be permitted to deal 

 in the sale, import, or export, of birds' 

 feathers. By this means alone can 

 we ensure the preservation of our 

 birds." — ^Professor C. G. Schillings). 

 Appointment by the Colonial Secretary 

 (the Earl of Crewe) of a committee to 

 consider the best means of preventing 

 the slaughter of birds by plume- 

 hunters throughout the British 

 Empire. 



Editions of " The Story of the Egret " 

 published in France, Holland, Belgium, 

 Denmark, Spain, and Italy. 

 Bill to prohibit the sale of the 

 plumage of certain birds brought in 

 by Mr. Percy Alden. Blocked. 



