Bird Notes and News 



29 



breeding species, the one anxiety was to 

 boast possession of the solitary eggs which 

 would have led to that result. The aim of 

 naturalists must now be to secure legal pro- 

 tection for the eggs, in case the birds should 

 return next year. 



* * * 



Although wild birds are not, in the nature of 

 things, sufferers to any extent through the 

 exhibitions of Performing Animals against which 

 so energetic a campaign has been carried on, 

 bird-lovers will be relieved to see that the Report 

 of the Select Committee (issued on May 31st, 

 1922) condemns " certain mechanical appli- 

 ances " used in conjuring tricks with birds 

 as demonstrably cruel. It may be hoped, 

 therefore, that the Committee of Supervision, 

 if appointed, will straightway prohibit their 

 use. Canaries are the main victims. The 

 proposed setting up of yet a third "advisory" 

 committee is noteworthy. In this case, how- 



ever, " two members of animal protection 



societies " are always to be upon it. There 



is no such provision as regards the Plumage 



Act Committee. 



* * * 



Any excuse appears to serve with magistrates 

 in cases where rare birds, protected by the law, 

 are killed. The man with a gun has always 

 " made a mistake," of course; he did not know 

 what the bird was until he had killed it ; it 

 was too dark for him to see what he was 

 shooting ; he thought the Bittern was a Goose, 

 and the Hoopoe a Jay, the Spoonbill a Heron ; 

 while a gallant sportsman nominally after 

 Woodpigeons in the Isle of Wight* had no 

 time to distinguish what he fired at until 

 he had killed — whatever it was ! In this case 

 it was a Peregrine Falcon. The Bench ap- 

 parently admitted the validity of the mistake ; 

 they discharged the ofiender. 



* iSe«"Inthe Courts." 



The Plumage Trade 



Bird-Lore for March — April, 1922, contains 

 this letter from an American lady to the 

 President of the Audubon Association : — 



" Several years ago I bought a hat and let 

 my milliner trim it according to her own taste. 

 She used a small Heron aigrette with other 

 trimming. I knew nothing about them at the 

 time, but since I learned the sad story of the 

 aigrette the thought of that hat has been a 

 painful one, and the word aigrette always 

 brings to mind my own offence. I paid S5 for 

 that aigrette. Enclosed find the same amount. 

 I hope it may save a Heron, and at the same 

 time ease a conscience that has long been 

 troubled." 



The Secretary of the R.S.P.B. has received 

 the following letter from an English lady : — 



" I should like to join your Society, as I am 

 very fond of birds, but I have a very fine 

 osprey, which was given to me years ago and 

 must be worth quite £10. I cannot give up 

 wearing it, so wUl not send my subscription 

 until I know this would not be objected to." 



When even humane English ladies view the 

 question with so little comprehension, it is not 

 surprising that condenmation by the law is 

 cynically met by the millinery trade with an 

 ostentatious display of ospreys and paradise 

 plumes, and by some of their customers with 

 a continued parade of these ill-gotten adorn- 

 ments. 



IMPORTATION OF PLUMAGE 



The names of the birds set out below have 

 been added to the Schedule to the Importation 

 of Plumage (Prohibition) Act, 1921, and their 

 plumage can therefore be imported into the 

 United Kingdom without special licence : — 



The Common Jay, the Common Magpie, 

 the Common Starling, the Java Sparrow, the 

 West African Ring-Necked Parrakeet, the 

 Chinese Bustard, the Green (or Japanese) 

 Pheasant, the Copper Pheasant, and the 

 Golden Pheasant. 



The Advisory Committee appointed under 

 the Act, in recommending the addition of the 

 names of the three last-mentioned birds to the 

 schedule, further recommended that the matter 

 should be referred to them again for review 

 after the expiration of twelve months. This 

 will be done. 



A COMMERCIAL ROMANCE 



(The following interesting sketch of an industrial 

 pioneer is communicated to the Society by a corre- 

 8pond«nt in Los Angeles.) 



Away back in 1887 there appeared upon 

 the streets of Los Angeles, California, an 

 English ex-collegian driving before him about 

 four dozen ostriches. He was the son of wealthy 

 parents and had conceived the idea that the 

 sun-dried wastes of California and Arizona 

 would be suitable for the African ostrich, and 



