116 



Bird Notes and News 



AUSTRIA. 



The President of the Austrian Bird 

 Protection Society writes : — 



" We understand that a Bill is shortly to 

 be brought before the Enghsh Houses of 

 Parliament to prevent the importation of 

 feathers of M-ild birds. The Osterreicher Bund 

 der Vogelfreunde hails the advent of this Bill 

 with the greatest pleasure, and is of opinion 

 that the fight against the Feather Trade 

 ought to be carried on in every European 

 country with all possible vigour. In Austria 

 the idea is gaining ground in our Parliament 

 that the importation of \^'ild-bird feathers 

 ought to be put an end to. ... It ought to 

 be made impossible to wear birds or their 

 plumage as hat ornaments, and thus a lasting 

 stimulus would be given to the trade in 

 artificial flowers, lace, and other trimmings." 

 DENMARK. 



Lieut.-Colonel Mehrn, writing for the 

 President of the Danish Society " Svalen " 

 (of which Queen Alexandra is Patroness), 

 says : 



"There is at this moment inourParhament 

 a proposition, in the Law on the Protection 

 of Animals, sec. 16, as follows : It is for- 

 bidden to Import into the kingdom Bird- 

 skins, feathers, or the dead bodies or part 

 of the bodies, of Birds not named in the 

 list of exceptions appended to this law. 

 This is not to apply to birds imported for 

 instruction or for science and museums, for 

 which, however, the permission of the 

 Ministry of Agriculture is required ; nor to 

 feathers forming part of the dress of a 

 person travelling to Denmark, provided 



that these feathers are not used for sale or 

 exchange. The birds excepted are Ostriches, 

 Eider-ducks and domestic fowls." 



Colonel Mehrn adds : We are sure that 

 this proposition will be received well in 

 our ParHament. I think it would be 

 well if (as in New York) the words as 

 to " feathers which form part of the 

 dress," etc., were struck out, otherwise 

 a person could have a " magasin " of 

 feathers on her hat. 



SWITZERLAND. 



Dr. Paul Sarasin, President of the 

 Central Schweizerische Naturschutzkom- 

 mission, writes : 



" In case that a request on the part of 

 the Government of Great Britain should 

 be made to the Bundsrat to join in the 

 prohibition of the import of skins and 

 feathers of rare and beautiful exotic birds, 

 I should think that the request would be 

 answered in a satisfactory sense. 



" I personally shall do all that is in my 

 power to support the noble intention of 

 your Society as far as it concerns our 

 country." 



In his plea for international and national 

 societies for preservation of Nature round 

 the world. Dr. Sarasin made a vigorous 

 protest against the trade, adding : — 



" It has been estimated that fashion kills 

 some 2-300 millions of birds every year — 

 a gigantic sacrifice which is made only to 

 satisfy the vanity and heartlessness of the 

 European lady." 



Sir Harry Johnston, speaking at a 

 meeting held at the Whitehall Rooms 

 on Nov. 17th, 1913, to support the 

 Government Plumage Bill, said the birds 

 it was sought to protect from the ravages 

 of the plume-hunter were either birds 

 of great rarity or great beauty or birds 

 of economic importance to man in the 

 war against insects, molluscs, ticks, and 

 worms, many of which carried disease 

 germs from plant to plant and from 

 the blood of one animal to that of another. 

 It might be thought that the great 



beauty and complete harmlessness of 

 most of the birds was a sufficient reason 

 for stopping their destruction, but it 

 so happened that the great majority of 

 them were insect eaters, so that in this 

 crusade they were attending to practical 

 issues as well as to sentimental con- 

 siderations. The traffic of the plumage 

 hunters who worked for the large trade 

 houses in England, Holland, Belgium, 

 France, Japan, and formerly in the United 

 States,was a wholly inexcusable traffic and 

 had already wrought irreparable harm. 



